The Tax Administration and the Market Inspection Directorate have been called upon to urgently investigate the organization of the "Sixth Regional IEP Conference - Public Procurement - Application in Practice", which is planned to be held from April 22 to 25 at the Petrovac "Palas" hotel, because the organizer is a company that does not exist in the register of business entities of Montenegro, while it has available telephone numbers with a Belgrade area code.
On this occasion, a criminal report has been submitted to the Police Directorate, Economic Crime Sector, and the labor inspectorate will be invited to carry out supervision.
On the other hand, the "Institute of Economics and Law", which is also the organizer of the conference, rejects all allegations and claims that they operate completely legally.
Applications were forwarded by the law firm Ana ĐukanovićShe also informed the Hotel Group “Budvanska Riviera”, owner of the Petrovac Hotel “Palas”, as well as the Public Institution “Museums and Galleries of Budva”, in whose Memorial House Crvena Communa in Petrovac lectures were announced to be held as part of the conference. They were asked to reconsider whether they would host the announced conference.
"We are contacting you at the request and on the instructions of one of our clients. The entity that, according to publicly available data and advertising materials, presents itself as the organizer of the conference - 'Institute of Economics and Law', cannot be identified as an actively registered legal entity in Montenegro, nor as a taxpayer in the valid records of the tax authorities in Montenegro. Moreover, the tax identification number (TIN): 03624137, which is indicated under the name 'Institute of Economics and Law', refers to a completely different legal entity, which operates under the name DOO 'Chobox' Podgorica. It follows from the above that payments for participation in the event are directed to the account of the legal entity 'Chobox' DOO, whose registered predominant activity is not related to the organization of professional conferences, but is registered under the code 5911 - 'Production of films, videos and television programs'", the application states.
It is emphasized that the previously described structure may potentially indicate concealment of the actual service provider, possible intermediary invoicing without economic basis, and ignoring relevant tax regulations.
"In practice, the described business model may carry characteristics of increased risk due to the possible performance of activities without proper registration, as well as improper recording and taxation of income," the application states.
Along with the application, an invoice was submitted containing data from three companies, one of which has a Serbian number, the other is IEP Podgorica, which does not exist in the register, while the invoice was signed by a person who is not authorized in the company “Chobox”. The founder and executive director of “Chobox”, as stated in the CRPS, is Christine Juettner.
The Institute told "Vijesti" that, as in all previous years, given that the conference is organized in Montenegro, the technical part of the organization is carried out through a limited liability company registered in Montenegro. By "technical part", as they stated, "we mean issuing a preliminary invoice for participation in the conference, which is sent to interested parties after they express their interest in participating by filling out the application for Montenegro, and issuing a final, fiscalized invoice after payment according to the issued preliminary invoice."
"The owner of the company 'Chobox' is the 'Institute of Economics and Law' Belgrade, and it became so in accordance with the notarized Share Transfer Agreement dated 27. 2. 2026. Due to the non-functioning of the CRPS, the change of founder has not yet been recorded in the commercial register. Simultaneously with the change of founder, the authorized person of the company 'Chobox' will also be changed, in such a way that Mr. Miloš Knežević becomes the executive director. The corporate acts and accompanying forms for the aforementioned changes have already been prepared and signed by all relevant persons, in order to carry out the registration”.
They recalled that until last year, the "Institute of Economics and Law" Belgrade carried out the technical part of the organization through its other daughter company, the "Institute of Economics and Law" DOO Budva.
"That company was voluntarily liquidated in 2025 in accordance with the procedure prescribed by law, with prior settlement of all obligations towards suppliers, the founder and state authorities (taxes, contributions, etc.), bearing in mind that a business decision was made to corporately and technically withdraw "Institute of Economics and Law" doo Belgrade from the Montenegrin market. That decision was changed, and precisely for the purpose of re-establishing the corporate and technical presence of "Institute of Economics and Law" doo Belgrade in Montenegro, a 100 percent stake in the company "Chobox" DOO Podgorica was acquired."
Regarding the allegation that "payments for participation in the event in question are directed to the company "Chobox", and "whose registered predominant activity is not related to the organization of professional conferences, but is registered under code 5911 - "Production of films, videos and television programs", they pointed out that in accordance with the regulations in Montenegro, the principle of free performance of any economic activity/economic activities applies to companies, regardless of the registered predominant activity, except in the case where the performance of a certain activity requires obtaining prior consent, approval, permit or other act of the competent authority, "which in this case is certainly not necessary".
"We will point out that, for example, Crnogorski Telekom Podgorica or EPCG Nikšić are engaged in or participate in the organization of conferences, meetings, seminars, etc., where their registered predominant activities are "cable, wireless and satellite telecommunications activities", or "production of electricity from non-renewable sources". Regarding the statement "that the invoice is signed by a person who is not employed by the company", we point out that it is not correct, because the invoices issued so far in connection with the organization of the conference by the company "Chobox" are neither signed nor stamped, nor is it necessary (the mandatory signature and stamp have been abandoned), but were issued as fiscalized invoices in accordance with the regulations, through licensed software for fiscalizing invoices".
They state that they assume that this kind of interest in the Institute, the organization of the conference and the applications is the result of persons who are former associates of the Institute and former employees of a subsidiary company from Budva, who are now also involved in organizing conferences, and that it is "nothing more than a malicious attempt to damage the reputation and standing of the "Institute of Economics and Law".
The registration fee for participants from Montenegro was originally 120 euros, but as of yesterday the website states that it is free.
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