Members of the Coordination Body for the Implementation of the “Velje Brdo” Project were paid a total of 79,784.80 euros in compensation over the past year. Slaven Radunović, Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, who is also the President of the Coordination Body, collected a total of 8.962,80 euros, while 11 members received 493,50 euros each in the last two months of 2024, and as of January 1 this year, the compensation amounted to 541,50 euros. Each member of the Coordination Body received 6.402 euros during this period.
The coordination body for the implementation of the “Velje Brdo” project (KT) was formed at the end of October last year, and in addition to Radunović, the following were elected as members: Marina Izgarevic Pavicevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property, Jelena Jovovic, teaching associate at the Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Vladimir Djurišić, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Nikola Misnić, teaching associate at the Faculty of Economics, University of Montenegro, Maja Delic, architecture specialist and assistant director of the Capital Projects Directorate, Bojan Popovic, technical director of the company “Putevi” DOO Podgorica, Vladimir Ivanovic, executive director of LLC “Montenegrin Electric Distribution System”, Ivan Asanović, Executive Director of Crnogorski elektroprenos (CGES) AD, Jelena Jovetić, Director of the Directorate for Public Investment Management and Public Procurement Policy at the Ministry of Finance, Milica Abramović, Head of the Directorate for Issuing Construction Permits at the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property and Irena Jocic, independent advisor in the Sector for State and Seized Property in the State Property Administration.
The fees are determined based on Article 2 of the Decision on the criteria for determining the amount of remuneration for the work of members of working bodies, according to which members of councils and commissions established by the Government are entitled to a monthly fee of up to 70 percent of the average gross salary for the president, and up to 50 percent for members.
The fees are paid from the budget of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property.
The total costs of remuneration for the work of the Coordination Body for the “Velje Brdo” project represent part of the current budget expenditures of the Ministry. Decisions on payments are made periodically, in accordance with the applicable regulations and practice of the Government of Montenegro.
At the time the Coordination Body was formed, the remuneration for the work of the president was 690,90 euros, and that of the members was 493,50 euros. With the new decision of January 3, 2025, the remuneration was increased, so that the president received 758,10 euros, and the members received 541,50 euros.
At the first meeting of the Coordination Body for the Implementation of the "Velje Brdo" Project, held at the premises of the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property on October 30, 2024, it was assessed that this project represents the most ambitious undertaking in the history of Montenegro, with the aim of relieving excessive construction and urbanization of Podgorica, and enabling a decent life in the Capital City.
"Members of the Coordination Body, including representatives of the Ministry of Finance, the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System (CEDIS), the Montenegrin Electricity Transmission System (CGES), the Faculty of Economics, the Capital Projects Administration, the Investment and Development Fund (IRF) and the Ministry of Interior, have begun considering two key aspects of the Velje Brdo project - urban planning and construction and financial," the Ministry said in a statement on that occasion.
Mirković: There are only expenses from the famous project
Nikola Mirkovic, an associate on CCE programs, believes that "the only thing that currently exists from the famous "Velje brdo" project are the expenses for compensation for members of the Coordination Body."
"This is an illustrative example of how the personal interests of decision-makers are put ahead of the public interest. At the same time, their priorities are exposed - first to provide benefits for themselves, and only then to think about a project that is presented to citizens, often in a difficult existential situation, as hope and a development opportunity," Mirković points out.
The fact that more than 80.000 euros will be paid annually through fees for the work of the Coordination Body for the implementation of the “Velje Brdo” project, for Ines Mrdovic, director of the NGO Action for Social Justice (ASP), is “excessive and unjustified spending of public money”.
"Over the years, the beneficiaries will be mostly privileged individuals from the state administration and some real experts. Such bodies or groups with multi-year terms usually mean that the change of each minister leads to changes and the insertion of 'people close to them'," Mrdović told "Vijesti".
What is the regular work of public administration?
Commenting on the paid participation of civil servants in the work of the Coordination Body, she believes that this raises the question of what is otherwise the regular work of public administration employees.
"On the other hand, if there is a real need to form such a body - does your regular job suffer because of your involvement in it? For example, you are a state secretary or director of a directorate, which are very demanding positions in regular activities, and on top of that you end up being in who knows how many working groups, bodies or commissions," notes the ASP director.
Nikola Mirković points out that the practice of paying compensation to civil servants for tasks that are already part of their regular job description has been present for a long time.
"We pointed to it back when the DPS was in power, as did the then opposition parties that have now, having become the government, clearly embraced it. This model represents a mechanism for additional rewards for the suitable, rather than the efficient, which builds a parallel system of privileges in public administration. Civil servants and public officials already have paid work obligations and numerous benefits, from daily allowances to entertainment, and additional fees for performing tasks that should be part of their regular work represent an unnecessary duplication of costs at the expense of citizens," said Mirković, emphasizing that in reality we are witnessing the spending of public money for, practically, a fictitious job.
"The ambitiously announced project without a planned foundation and realistic deadlines already looks like another political promise without coverage, although it was clear even during its promotion that it was a populist move with pre-election overtones," he adds.
Mrdović notes that the curiosity of this coordination body is that one of its tasks is "preparing a financial analysis of the Velje Brdo project."
"Well, for an announced project of this value, you probably hire renowned financial experts or firms to conduct a financial analysis, and civil servants and officials won't do that for you," Ines Mrdović points out.
An infamous example
Ines Mrdović points out that for the first section of the highway, implemented under a FIDIC contract, which meant paying tens of millions of euros for foreign supervision, two government commissions (experts) and a special unit in Monteput, the Ministry of Transport also paid for a special implementation unit for 11 years, which was mostly staffed by their own employees.
"The cost of that unit was 848 thousand euros, and only five people were members for all 11 years, earning 737 thousand euros, i.e. each of those five members was financially 'good' for the value of two apartments in Podgorica for 11 years," Mrdović recalls.
Botun and another collector
At the first meeting of the Coordination Body for the implementation of the “Velje Brdo” project, held on October 30, 2024, Minister Radunović, according to the minutes of the meeting, said that a potential problem would be “the lack of representatives of DOO Vodovod i kanalizacija Podgorica”, but that in the decision to establish the KT there is a possibility of organizing the presence of representatives of other state and local authorities that are not part of the KT. Radunović stated that he believes that there is a potential problem with the sewage system.
"If Botun works, Velje Brdo can be connected to it, and in any case, we can count on this first part being able to be supplied from the local connection, but perhaps we should plan to build a collector that would be on the slope towards Zeta. It is true that it requires certain horizontal surfaces. Ecologists say that there are collectors with such processing capacities that the water becomes safe for drinking," said Radunović.
Waterworks, Nišavić and Velje Brdo
Maja Delić, a member of the Coordination Body, stated at the first session of the Coordination Body that DOO Vodovod Podgorica had raised issues with connecting to the Mareza water supply system because, according to director Aleksandar Nišavić, this would endanger the source and water supply of users in the territory of the Capital City. Aleksandar Nišavić, according to her, presented the problem as the lack of a detailed analysis of the need for water and reservoir space and that, without a feasibility study, the supply of more than half of the capital would be endangered, because in this case they are referring to a study from 2011, after which the city was significantly developed.
Prime Minister Milojko Spajić announced in February, on the social network X, that he would "launch an offensive for shifts at Podgorica's Vodovod if the company does not release the tender for the road, sewage and electricity for the Velje Brdo project by February 15th."
Aleksandar Nišavić, the director of Podgorica's "Water Supply and Sewerage", responded, claiming that he was not aware that the company had in any way jeopardized the implementation of projects and planned activities.
He said this to "Vijesti" in response to questions regarding the roll call of Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.
This is an illustrative example of how the personal interests of decision-makers are put ahead of the public interest. At the same time, their priorities are exposed - first to provide benefits for themselves, and only then to think about a project that is presented to citizens, often in difficult existential situations, as hope and a development opportunity, says Nikola Mirković (CCE).
If there is a real need to form such a body - does your regular job suffer because of your involvement in it? For example, you are a state secretary or director of a directorate, which are very demanding positions in regular activities, so you end up being in who knows how many working groups, bodies or commissions, says Ines Mrdović (ASP)
Pre-election story, but "has nothing to do with the elections"
The idea of building a new city on Mali Brdo for 40 thousand inhabitants was first presented in September last year, eight days before the Podgorica elections, by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić and Minister Slaven Radunović.
They promised apartments at a price of 1.000 euros, which is half the average price per square meter in Podgorica, and the first move-ins in two years, saying that the project had nothing to do with the local elections and that they came up with the idea two months ago.
In September last year, "Vijesti", citing several interlocutors from the fields of ecology, spatial planning and construction, announced that the story about the construction of a new settlement on Velje Brdo, the size of the city of Bar with 41 thousand inhabitants, is not realistic, because it is contrary to current laws, planning solutions, technical capabilities of the communal infrastructure, and that the price of apartments through the proposed installment amounts is not mathematically accurate.
"Vijesti" also wrote at the time that part of Velji Brdo is included in the protection zone of the Zeta River Nature Park and that residential construction is not possible in that part, and that construction on the remaining part would require detailed studies to ensure that the new settlement does not have an impact on the Zeta and the source of the Mareza, which would require serious scientific research.
If the installment for a 60-square-meter apartment were 290 euros over 30 years, as Spajić announced at the time, with an interest rate of 1,2 percent, the basic price of the apartment would be around 1.700 euros per square meter, not a thousand. For a 100-square-meter apartment, with a promised installment of 390 euros, the final price is around 1.400 euros, "Vijesti" reported.
According to the newspaper, the construction of infrastructure for 2,66 million square meters of gross construction area of residential and commercial buildings, as presented in the project, according to the prices of utility equipment from Monstat research, would cost 340 million euros...
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