Possible public knowledge of the number of passenger cars purchased by the National Security Agency (ANB) in the last five years and how much state money was spent for this purpose, according to an explanation from this institution, could jeopardize national security, so data on the ANB's vehicle fleet is classified.
Responding to a request from "Vijesti" under the Law on Free Access to Information, the ANB stated that "it has been assessed that the disclosure and possible misuse of data on the procurement of official ANB vehicles used in the implementation of the competencies prescribed in Article 6 of the Law on the ANB, as well as their characteristics (brand, type, chassis number, license plates, technical characteristics, etc.), could have harmful consequences for the performance of the Agency's functions, i.e. that the performance of national security tasks could be compromised or jeopardized."
WHERE DOES THE "SURPLUS" OF VEHICLES COME FROM?
"Vijesti", to be honest, did not ask for vehicle characteristics such as the chassis number, license plate or technical characteristics in their request, but rather data that would, in addition to the number of passenger cars at the disposal of the ANB, clarify the situation in the state of Montenegro, as it is possible for the Ministry of Justice to, at one point, practically be left without adequate official vehicles, and none other than the ANB comes to its aid by providing a "Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI", from 2024, without anyone explaining how the Agency came to have such a "surplus" vehicle.
"Given the specificity of the ANB and the powers it has, it is understandable that some detailed information is not available to the public, but information about, for example, the total number of vehicles and the value of the vehicle fleet should not be a secret. The data we obtained, which comes from official records of the Ministry of the Interior, show us that in February last year, the ANB had 119 vehicles at its disposal," he says. Dragana Jaćimović from the Institute of Alternatives.
She emphasizes that according to the Law on Public Procurement and its by-laws, everything related to the procurement of "ordinary official vehicles" through procurement through the electronic public procurement system (CEJN) should be public, while those vehicles that have special operational and technical means, and are therefore considered special equipment, are procured confidentially. This is regulated in detail by the Regulation on the List of Military Equipment and Products, the procedure and manner of conducting public procurement in the field of defense and security. Except in cases provided for by this Regulation, the National Security Agency is obliged to apply the Law on Public Procurement, like all other contracting authorities, concludes Jaćimović.
The associate of the Institute Alternative emphasizes that it is concerning that a proposal for a new Law on the National Security Agency is in the parliamentary procedure, which unjustifiably introduces a complete exemption from the application of public procurement regulations for the implementation of all ANB procurements.
"The proposed changes represent a setback compared to the current legislation, since even procurements that are not of a security nature, such as office supplies, mobile telephony services, and vehicle procurement, will be carried out according to procedures prescribed by the Director of the Agency," adds Jaćimović.
The Institute Alternative strongly criticized this solution during the discussion at the Committee on Security and Defense at the end of July this year. This draft law, along with a few other controversial legal solutions, was withdrawn from the agenda of the last session of the Parliament of Montenegro, although they are still formally in the procedure.
MANS FILES A LAWSUIT
When asked who should control public procurement in the ANB, including the purchase of cars, the Institute Alternative points out that the key role in controlling what is procured confidentially and secretly is played by the State Audit Institution (DRI), which, in accordance with its competences, has access to secret data.
"However, it should be emphasized that the SAI deals with these procurements periodically through individual audits of spending units in the security and defense sector, which is why we proposed in the public call that the SAI include an audit of spending on procurements in the security and defense sector in the audit plan for next year. This is particularly important because, due to their specific nature, there is no possibility of control and monitoring of these procurements by the public and the media," warns Jaćimović.
The ANB had 119 vehicles at its disposal in February last year, according to data from the Institute Alternative.
Another controller of these procurements may be the Committee on Security and Defense, which exercises parliamentary oversight over the work of bodies and institutions in the field of security and defense. This Committee has several mechanisms for exercising regular and extraordinary parliamentary oversight of security sector institutions, and among other things, it may request additional information and the preparation of reports specifically for the needs of the Committee's work and for exercising oversight for, for example, confidential procurements. However, the Committee has not yet applied this competence specifically to security procurements, although this is a recommendation that we have been making for years through proposals for the work of the Committee.
Although "Vijesti" sent questions Miodrag Laković, the Chairman of the Committee on Security and Defense regarding the procurement of official cars and the control of public procurement in the National Security Agency, received no responses from the body that is very important in the chain of control of the work of the National Security Agency.
The Agency also did not respond to questions regarding the procurement of official vehicles, procedures, implementation of public procurement...
MANS, whose "Ask Institutions" application was used by "Vijesti", will file a lawsuit over the ANB's refusal to respond to a request about the procurement and number of official cars.
Bonus video:
