The capital city of Podgorica will allocate 700 thousand euros for the soup kitchen this year, and these funds will be redirected to the account of "Market and Market". This city enterprise was entrusted with the task of preparing, or rather delivering, meals for the socially vulnerable in the territory of the Podgorica municipality after the Secretariat for Social Welfare terminated its long-standing cooperation with the "Sergije Stanić" Secondary Vocational School just a few days before the contract expired.
The public does not know the details of the contract that the Capital City, namely the Secretariat for Social Welfare, and "Markets and Markets" signed for this job, nor is it known when the contract was signed.
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"Tržnica i pijaca" did not respond to "Vijesti"'s questions, but said that the editorial office's inquiry "contains items related to data from the contractual relationship" between that Society and the Secretariat for Social Welfare:
"We will consider it a request for free access to information, and we will respond to it within the legal deadline," they said yesterday, after repeated questions about cooperation with the local company.
The Budget Decision states that the planned expenditures of the Capital City related to public kitchen services for this year are 700 thousand euros:
"Other services in the structure of service expenditures have the largest share and amount to 2.330.100 euros. The same expenditures relate to public kitchen services for which funds in the amount of 700.000 euros have been planned," the document states.
"Vijesti" asked "Tržnice i pijace" about the staff and space capacities necessary for carrying out food preparation activities, but the company did not respond.
Shop, restaurant, catering, advertising
The decision to take over the business of preparing and delivering meals for the socially vulnerable by "Markets and Markets" was preceded by changes to the Statute of that Podgorica-based company, from the last session of the Capital City Assembly in December 2025.
The amendments thus added additional activities: retail trade in non-specialized stores, mainly of food, beverages or tobacco, restaurant and mobile catering activities, catering (delivery of prepared food) and advertising agency activities.
"By anticipating the aforementioned additional activities in the field of trade and catering, we want to create opportunities for the implementation of cooperation with the Secretariat for Social Welfare, which the Capital City administration has been informed about, in terms of taking over tasks in the aforementioned areas, all with the aim of providing quality services to citizens as end users of soup kitchen services, gift packages for newborns... in a way that the budget funds allocated for these purposes remain within the public sector of the Capital City system," it is written in the explanation of the Decision on Amendments to the Statute.
It is added that the expansion of activities will enable "Tržnice" to carry out other activities in the fields of trade, catering and advertising, and "create opportunities for more flexible business operations and more efficient use of available resources."
"Especially in the use of market space as advertising space, which creates conditions for revenue diversification and ultimately improving the Company's business as a whole."
The answer is to wait...
"Vijesti" sent questions about this deal to "Tržnice" two days ago, and then again yesterday. However, the company did not respond, but said that it would consider the inquiry a request for free access to information, and that it would respond to the request within the legally prescribed deadline. The deadline for submitting information, according to the Law on SPI, is 15 days.
The Secretariat for Social Welfare of the Capital City told the editorial staff that the city company will take over the job of preparing and delivering meals for the socially vulnerable.
According to the secretary Stefan Vešović, the contract with SSS "Sergije Stanić" expired on December 31, 2025. He also said that cooperation with the local company began on January 1 of this year.
In response to complaints from users regarding the quality and type of meals they received during the holidays, he said that there were no interruptions in their meals.
Apart from saying that the cooperation with "Tržnice" began on January 1, Vešović did not discuss the nature of that cooperation. "Vijesti" also asked "Tržnice" who proposed the public company to carry out the work, whether they have a realistic capacity to prepare meals for the Soup Kitchen, and who will prepare the food - employees or subcontractors.
Executive Director of “Marketplace” Ivan Bojović Yesterday, he told TV Vijesti's "Boje jutra" that the systematization of jobs in that company is underway. He added that the systematization will be completed "as soon as possible."
The daily newspaper "Vijesti" also sent questions to "Tržnice" about what kind of contract was concluded for the preparation of meals, when it was signed and for what period... as well as whether at the time of signing the contract they had a registered business and technical conditions for food preparation, including an active kitchen, staff and sanitary permits...
"Tržnice" were also asked who was responsible for the period from January 1 to 11 when beneficiaries did not receive hot meals, as well as why those who have food delivered to their homes did not receive cooked meals yesterday.
For several years, based on a public call and a contract with the Capital City, SSS "Sergije Stanić" has been engaged to prepare meals for the socially vulnerable. According to the 2022 contract, which is publicly available, the job was worth around half a million per year.
Director of that institution Miomir Đurišić Two days ago, he told "Vijesti" that the school received notification of the end of cooperation seven or eight days before the contract expired, and that the information was verbally communicated to them by the director of "Tržnica". Ivan Bojović and Vešović from the Secretariat for Social Welfare. He also said that they tried to initiate talks about extending the contract, but were told that a new one had already been signed with the company “Tržnice i pijace”.
The Capital City said yesterday that the goal is for the Soup Kitchen to function stably in the coming period, with regular preparation of cooked meals and better use of existing capacities. They also said that periods in which beneficiaries received exclusively dry food will no longer occur, not even during holidays.
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