Nine Montenegrin municipalities paid a total of 586.901,79 euros to private security companies in 2024 and 2025 for security services for people and property.
The Municipality of Kotor spent 160.406,63 euros this year and last year to secure the "Zoran Džimi Gopčević" indoor city swimming pool, ramps in Perast, and city walls.
Tivat allocated 163.873,15 euros for this purpose, Nikšić cost 91.113 euros to secure the Municipality building and Krupac Park, and the Capital paid 79.215,20 euros for providing security services for persons and property for the needs of organizational units.
The capital, represented by the then mayor Olivera Injac, and Safety & Consulting Agency DOO Podgorica, after an open public procurement system, in December last year, concluded a contract for the provision of security services for persons and property for the needs of organizational units of the Capital City of Podgorica worth 79.215,20 euros.
The Municipality of Bar has concluded a contract with “BIM security” from Budva, which requires the security guards to draft a revision of the Protection Plan for a mandatory protected facility - the Bar Municipality building, money transport services and technical protection. The value of this contract is 3.630 euros.
The Danilovgrad Municipality signed a contract in June last year with “Don Security” from Nikšić to provide alarm monitoring services for the Municipality building. The value of the contract is 100 euros per month excluding VAT. The contractor’s obligations include installation and maintenance of the system, 24-hour monitoring and submission of reports. The contract between the Municipality of Danilovgrad and Don Security was extended for another year by an annex this summer.
Video surveillance in Kolašin
The Protection and Rescue Service of Kolašin signed a contract with “Podgor” doo Podgorica for the technical protection of the facility - video surveillance. The Municipality will pay 50 euros per month per facility, excluding VAT, for this service.
The services of “Podgor” doo include delivery and installation of equipment, administration and maintenance of the system, 24-hour monitoring from the Operations Center, and an emergency service technician will be charged 20 euros + VAT per hour, with travel expenses of 0,25 euros per kilometer.
The Municipality of Kolašin had a contract with this same company in 2024 for the technical protection of the Kolašin Municipality building. Under the contract, “Podgor” was paid 50 euros per month per facility, excluding VAT.
The contractor's obligations included 24-hour monitoring of the alarm and video system, notification of the relevant services in the event of an alarm, regular inspection and recording of the system, and recommendations for additional security.
The Municipality of Kotor had four contracts for private security last year and this year. Two companies provided security for the indoor city swimming pool “Zoran Džimi Gopčević”. The contract for the security of the swimming pool, for the period from April 1 to June 7, 2024, for the amount of 45.490,58 euros, was signed with “System Security” doo Podgorica. The contract provided for round-the-clock physical security, an emergency squad with a vehicle and five employees.
The contract for the security of the same pool, for the period from June 14 to July 4, 2025, was initialed with "Vector System Security" DOO Nikšić, and the value of this contract is 60.417,7 euros including VAT.
In 2024, Kotor also had a contract to secure the ramps in Perast from June 17 to August 8. During that period, the contractor "D-Security" DOO Podgorica controlled the passage and ramps in Perast on a daily basis, for which it was paid 25.048,16 euros including VAT.
The aforementioned “Vector System Security” doo Nikšić also secured the city walls in Kotor this year. The physical security of the toll booths and the escort of money to the cash register cost the Municipality of Kotor 29.450,19 euros including VAT.
In 2025, the Municipality of Nikšić concluded contracts with the agencies "Gold Security" and "Vector System Security", both based in this city.
Security for Krupac too
A contract was signed with “Vector System Security” in early February 2025, for a period of two months, for the physical security of the property in Krupac Park. The fee for this job was 9.438 euros. At the end of March and the beginning of June, two more contracts were signed with the same partners, for two months each, again under the same financial conditions.
“Vector System Security” was then hired for three days, during the Vasrkšnji Bazaar in April. The Municipality of Nikšić paid 2.178 euros for this service.
Following a tender procedure, in July, the Municipality of Nikšić concluded a 12-month contract with “Gold Security” from Nikšić. The amount paid for the physical security service in the Municipality building was 60.621 euros.
The Municipality of Nikšić paid a total of 91.113 euros for services under all these contracts.
The Municipality of Pljevlja signed two contracts with "Security Guard Montenegro" doo Podgorica in 2024 and 2025. Last year, 29.282 euros were paid for the services of this security company, and this year, the physical security of the Pljevlja Municipality building and SDK will cost the people of Pljevlja 41.338,44 euros.
In 2024 and 2025, the Municipality of Tivat also concluded two contracts with “Vector System Security” doo Nikšić based on public procurement procedures. A total of 163.873,15 euros was paid on this basis.
The basic contract for the provision of physical and technical security services (12.07.2024-12.07.2025), whose value was 71.891,30 euros, was increased by 11.981,88 euros by an annex to the contract. The subject of the contract, as stated, is 24/7 physical and technical security of facilities, monitoring, CCTV, alarm, access control, intervention unit.
The second contract on physical and technical security will be valid from July this year to July next year. The value of the contract is 79.999,97 euros, and the obligations of "Vector System Security" are the security of property and persons, 12.696 hours of work, 24/7 regime, system monitoring, interventions, keeping daily records and replacing staff at the request of the client.
Budva and Ulcinj without response
The Municipality of Tuzi also concluded two contracts with “Security Guard Montenegro” doo Podgorica. Under the simple procurement contract, concluded in February last year, for the physical and technical security of the Tuzi Municipality building and premises, 15.681,60 euros were paid. A year earlier, 15.972 euros were paid to this security company for a similar contract. The services provided include physical security and technical protection, 24/7 video surveillance, alarm and emergency interventions.
Contracts on the engagement of private security were not signed last year or this year by Andrijevica, Berane, Cetinje, Gusinje, Petnjica, Šavnik, Mojkovac, Plav, Rožaje, Žabljak and Zeta.
Budva and Ulcinj did not respond to the SPI inquiry.
"Vijesti" obtained the data using the MANS application "Ask institutions".
And foreigners as security
The Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on the Protection of Persons and Property allows citizens of European Union member states, signatory states of the Agreement on the European Economic Area and Switzerland to perform certain tasks in the field of private security, under the conditions that also apply to Montenegrin citizens.
The explanation states that the law is being passed to eliminate discriminatory provisions related to citizenship, which was also recognized during negotiations with the European Commission within chapter three - the right to establish a company and the freedom to provide services.
"The European Commission has indicated that the right to be a responsible person in a legal entity that performs the activity of protecting persons and property, as well as the right to obtain approval to perform protection work, should also be enjoyed by citizens of EU member states, states that are signatories to the EEA Agreement and Switzerland, under the same conditions as Montenegrin citizens," the explanation reads.
The amendments relate to the introduction of new Articles 20a and 29a. Article 20a stipulates that the responsible person in a legal entity performing protection activities may also be a citizen of the aforementioned countries, if they meet the requirements set out in Article 20 of the Law, except for the point relating to citizenship of Montenegro. Article 29a enables citizens of the same countries to obtain a permit to perform protection activities, if they already have the appropriate permit in their country of origin and if they meet other requirements prescribed by Montenegrin law.
The application of these articles is, however, postponed until the date of Montenegro's accession to the European Union, as provided for in Article 82a, also proposed by these amendments.
Security guard training at the Police Academy
At the Police Academy, security guard training is conducted according to a publicly valid licensed program that lasts 5 weeks or 25 working days. The obligation to attend this training stems from the Law on Protection of Persons and Property and the Law on Amendments to the Law on Protection of Persons and Property.
The conditions for issuing a permit are that the person is professionally qualified to perform security work and has passed a professional exam for performing security work. The police verify that the conditions have been met.
"The Police Academy of the Higher Secondary School of the Police is licensed to conduct this training, but it is not the only adult education institution that has a license. According to our knowledge, the 'Urban Protection Training Center Montenegro' and the 'Montenegrin Center for Adult Education and Training' also have a license to conduct this program. We do not know the scope of their activities," Nenad Vojinović, director of the Police Academy of the Higher Secondary School of the Police, told "Vijesti".
According to him, 132 participants completed this training at the Academy from 2022 to 2024, and this year there are 20 candidates. The training costs 250 euros.
"After completing the training for security guards, they apply and take a professional exam before a commission formed by the Ministry of the Interior, and if they meet other requirements prescribed by law, the Ministry of the Interior issues them a work license, which is renewed every five years. We believe that the education program for security guards for persons and property provides a wide range of topics in that field and that after its implementation, the future security guard can acquire the necessary knowledge to perform these jobs," explains Vojinović.
Mrdović: Money is pouring into private agencies
The amount paid is considerable and raises the question of how much less local governments could have spent, instead of pouring money into private agencies, says Ines Mrdović, executive director of the Action for Social Justice (ASP).
She considers it indisputable that local governments are obliged to protect their property with the care of a good businessman and ensure security and order, but it is unjustified to pay private agencies for work that they can complete themselves.
"Considering that local government bodies are usually located in one building, especially in smaller towns, it is sufficient to prescribe a smaller number of security positions, rather than paying through external engagements, because such engagements are usually significantly more expensive," suggests Mrdović.
The Executive Director of the NGO ASP points out that this system of engagement should be contracted based on the Law on Public Procurement, and anything else would mean a violation of that law.
"Local governments themselves create their own annual public procurement plans, which foresee funds for various types of services; it is clear that they practically project themselves whether they will allocate these funds for the engagement of private agencies or not. On the other hand, perhaps the solution could be in some by-law in relation to the Law on Local Self-Government, where municipalities would be required to provide this type of work through a smaller number of jobs, which would exclude the engagement of private security," believes Ines Mrdović, noting that the practice of engaging private security has also spread to educational units, in public institutions...
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