CCE: DRI, Budget Inspection and Internal Audit of the University of Montenegro to investigate millions in transfers to student organizations

The Center for Civic Education (CCE) announced today that it has submitted three initiatives to the competent institutions, requesting a final examination of the manner in which more than two million euros of public funds that the University of Montenegro (UCG) and its organizational units have allocated to the Student Parliament of UCG (SPUCG), student councils and other student organizations have been spent.

"The initiatives have been sent to the State Audit Institution (SAI), the Directorate for Budget Inspection of the Ministry of Finance, as well as the Governing Board, the Rector and the Internal Audit Service of the University of Montenegro. CCE has already clearly indicated the lack of transparency in the spending of these funds, as well as on institutional ping-pong between UCG and SPUCG when it comes to accountability and data availability. And the silence on the issue of more than two million euros of public funds is a serious reason for the competent institutions to act," the CCE statement, signed by Jovana Radulović, assistant on programs, emphasizes.

The non-governmental organization (NGO) added that back in 2021, through the audit of the Annual Financial Report of the Rectorate of the University of Montenegro for 2020, the SAI identified weaknesses in financial operations and the internal control system, giving qualified opinion on both the financial statement and the compliance of operations with regulations.

"Transfers to the Student Parliament and student organizations were also recorded at that time, but the manner in which these funds were spent was never subject to audit. The SAI also pointed to serious problems in the functioning of internal audit at the University of Montenegro, noting that internal auditors were not given access to the information system of the University of Montenegro, which is why the planned audit of personal income of employees financed from the budget was not carried out. This confirms that the problem of controlling public money at the University of Montenegro is not new, but also that the lack of an effective institutional response stimulates its spread," said the CCE.

They said that this highlights the issue of the actions of the UCG authorities.

"Namely, Internal Audit Charter of the University of Montenegro, which was adopted by the Governing Board at the end of 2025, covers all activities of the University without exception. Therefore, there are no legal obstacles to auditing the spending of funds transferred to student organizations. However, according to the CCE's knowledge, the internal audit of the University of Montenegro has never controlled the spending of these funds to date - neither through regular nor extraordinary audits. The decades-long transfer of millions of euros without a single serious report on the way these funds were spent cannot be treated as an administrative oversight or a marginal risk, but as a systemic problem that is knowingly ignored by all rectors and other management bodies of the University of Montenegro," the CCE said.

They state that for the sake of clarification, the responsibilities within the University of Montenegro are clear.

"The Board of Directors can order an audit. The Rector is obliged to provide access to documentation. The Internal Audit Service has a mandate to conduct control. In short, everything is formally regulated, but there is no will to control the system. It is very important that the Board of Directors, which adopts the consolidated financial statements of the University of Montenegro in which transfers to the SPUCG are shown without data on expenditure, and which allocates these funds with its decisions, orders an audit of what it itself adopted and approved. It is equally important that the Rector of the University of Montenegro, Prof. Dr. Vladimir Božović, who refused to submit the requested documentation in a letter to the CCE, show a greater degree of responsibility in controlling these funds. Their further actions will show whether the internal control mechanisms at the University of Montenegro function at all when the issue of responsibility touches those who should initiate them. If they do not function, then the Internal Audit Charter is a document without purpose, and the autonomy of the University of Montenegro and the SPUCG is an excuse for public money to remain out of control," said the CCE.

The NGO said that the UCG Board of Directors consists of: Prof. Dr. Milivoje Radović (President), Prof. Dr. Drago Perović, Prof. Dr. Nevena Mijajlović, Prof. Dr. Vuk Vuković and Prof. Dr. Srđa Aleksić as representatives of academic staff with academic titles; Prof. Dr. Milijana Novović Burić, Prof. Dr. Anđelka Šćepanović, Dr. Milena Burić, Saša Roćen and MA Nikola Zečević as representatives of the founders; Dr. Jovana Janinović as a representative of associates; Sekule Raičević as a representative of professional and non-academic staff; and Vedran Vujisić, Ivana Popović and Aleksandar Banjević as student representatives.

"Each member of the Steering Board has the right to vote, but also personal responsibility for the decision on this initiative. CCE expects the competent institutions to demonstrate through their actions that control of public money applies equally to everyone, including the University of Montenegro and student structures that have significant budget funds. More than two million euros of public money cannot remain in the zone without real control, reporting and accountability. It is the reaction of the competent institutions that will show whether the competent institutions have the capacity to protect the public interest or, for some reason, continue to tolerate years of non-transparency and abuse of the autonomy of the University of Montenegro and the Student Union of Montenegro," CCE stated.