Samardžić's overtime hours are being counted: The Prosecutor's Office and the police are investigating the operations of the Institute of Public Health

Police officers seized documentation on the operations of the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro (IJZ) at the end of August, while the Podgorica Basic State Prosecutor's Office has been investigating allegations from the criminal report regarding alleged illegalities in the work of that health institution and its first man since the beginning of September. Ivan Samardžić, "Vijesti" learns.

The editorial source also claims that the actions of the Police Directorate and the ODT were preceded by an inspection by the Labor Inspectorate, which showed that the institution was problematic, among other things, in the way overtime hours are calculated for individual employees, including acting director Samardžić.

Acting inspector Vlatko Popović sent the report on the inspection and the findings, among others, to the competent Ministry of Health, headed by Vojislav Šimun.

According to documentation obtained by "Vijesti", the findings were also sent to the Budget Inspection...

The information about the seized documentation was confirmed to the editorial office by the Public Health Institute:

"It is true that two weeks ago, officers of the Police Directorate - Crime Prevention Sector came to the premises of the Institute of Public Health of Montenegro with a request to submit documentation from the Institute's accounting department. In this regard, we inform you that all documentation that was seized on that occasion from the Institute of Public Health is in order and that the actions of the competent authorities cannot be interpreted as confirmation of any irregularities in the work of this institution, which will be determined in that procedure. The mere fact that the documentation was seized as part of the actions of the competent authorities, and its content and scope, do not constitute grounds for concluding that there were any irregularities in the work of the Institute," the Institute officially responded.

They also claim that "no one from the Institute's management was invited to be questioned, nor were any actions taken after the requested documentation was seized, of which the Institute was informed."

The Podgorica ODT responded to "Vijesti" that they are checking the allegations from the criminal report regarding that health facility. However, they did not specify who the report refers to.

"We inform you that the criminal report relating to the Public Health Institute was submitted to the Basic State Prosecutor's Office in Podgorica for its jurisdiction on 2 September 2026. In connection with the submitted criminal report, this prosecutor's office will verify the allegations contained in the report, assess whether there are legal grounds for further action and, based on the results of the checks, make a decision in accordance with the law. Regarding the part of your question relating to a specific person, we inform you that the ODT does not provide information about persons, but only information about the stages of the procedure initiated on the basis of a specific criminal report for a specific criminal offense," the ODT said.

"Vijesti" also sent questions to the Police Directorate, but no answers were received by the time the article was published.

"In the interest of full transparency"

The Institute said that based on all documentation that was kept at the Institute conscientiously and in accordance with regulations, they believe that there is no basis for linking the seized documentation with allegations of irregularities in the spending of the Institute's money by the acting director.

"Because these are documented costs that are managed properly and in accordance with applicable regulations. The Institute of Public Health is interested in full transparency and cooperation with all competent institutions, and since this institution works conscientiously, there is no reason not to cooperate with the institutions and submit all required documentation," the health institution emphasized.

They also said that the Labor Inspectorate carried out an inspection, and claim that no irregularities were found regarding the operations of the Public Health Institute.

"Part of the documentation requested by the Police Directorate relates to the same matters for which an inspection has already been carried out and where no irregularities were recorded, while part of it relates to the submission of general company documents, which are also publicly available. The position of the management at the Institute of Public Health, as well as all previous inspection bodies, is that this institution operates in accordance with positive regulations in everything, and that there was no basis for either inspection or initiation of any other procedure, which will be demonstrated in the coming period. Just as the labor inspection did not establish any irregularities, there is no reason to expect any other result now," the Institute said.

Disputed settlement

Samardžić was appointed to the position of Acting Director of the Institute in October 2025 for a period of six months, which was extended for another six months.

In the letter, Popović warns Minister Šimun that "the provisions of Article 64, paragraph 1 of the Labor Law stipulate that an employee's working hours may last longer than the contracted working hours only in the event of a sudden increase in the volume of work, in the event of force majeure and in other exceptional cases."

"In support of this act, as the body that exercises legal supervision over the work of the Institute, we are submitting the minutes of the established inspection supervision from April 1st in order to familiarize ourselves with the factual situation, assess the existence of real reasons for introducing continuous work longer than full-time hours for the Acting Director of the Institute starting from October 2025 to February 2026," the inspector stated in the letter, adding that he is submitting the decisions approving the payment of overtime compensation, salary calculation and attendance records for the Acting Director in the annex to the act.

Popović also points out that the records of attendance at work for the period from October 2025 to and including February 2026 registered a total of 618 hours and 17 minutes of regular working hours. The salary calculation, Popović specified, shows the number of hours of regular and full-time working hours of 174 hours per month, "which makes 870 hours of regular full-time working hours."

"It follows from the above that in the mentioned months full working hours were not achieved during regular working hours. The contracted full working hours are achieved during regular working hours and only the achieved full fund of regular working hours creates the possibility for eventual overtime work. Based on the established facts, it is necessary to analyze the reasons for the introduction of overtime work, this kind of calculation of overtime work, the fund of overtime hours that is repeated in the same volume, the method of payment of the fund of overtime hours that is not recorded in the salary calculations," the letter to the Minister of Health states.

He was paid about 8.000 euros.

An anonymous criminal complaint against Samardžić, according to documentation obtained from the Ministry of Labor through SPI, was filed in early March and, among other things, it lists alleged misuse of the Institute's money through overtime payments to Samardžić.

The minutes of the inspection supervision include all decisions of the President of the Board of Directors of the Institute, Verica Osmanović, on overtime payments for Samardžić by month. Overtime and incentives for Samardžić began in October 2025, when he was appointed acting director, and were paid until March, when the report was submitted to the Labor Inspectorate. In total, he was paid around eight thousand euros in gross amount in incentives and overtime. The incentives were at the level of 15 percent, and the number of overtime hours per month ranged from 11 to 115 working hours.

The minutes state that Samardžić and his lawyer attended the inspection. Danilo Radulović who signed the minutes stating that the party has no objections.