The Ministry of Finance is hiding data on aid payments of two million and 400 thousand euros from the budget reserve that it allocated to some municipalities and sports organizations ahead of last year's presidential elections.
This data was revealed by the Network for the Affirmation of the Non-Governmental Sector (MANS), where they claim that the situation will be even worse if changes to the Data Secrecy Act are adopted, and that institutions will be able to mark whatever they want as secret.
Although the European Commission in this year's report for Montenegro emphasized the need for greater opening of institutions, the Ministry of Defense does not see anything objectionable in this legal solution.
Four months before the presidential elections in April last year, the four municipalities in which the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) is in power with its coalition partners received a total of one million and 650 thousand euros from the Government's budget reserve.
Thus, according to the data obtained by the Research Center MANS, the municipalities of Bijelo Polje and Rožaje were paid half a million euros each, the Assembly of the Municipality of Pljevlja 400 thousand euros, while the Municipality of Ulcinj received 250 thousand.
However, the Ministry of Finance did not want to submit this data to MANS.
"We, as citizens of Montenegro, at this moment can know more about how the Government of Great Britain or Germany or France spends money from the budget than we can know how our Government spends our own money with which we fill the budget when we pay taxes. That is something which is complete nonsense," said MANS Executive Director Vanja Ćalović.
The Ministry of Finance also hid budget payments to sports clubs and associations from the public eye.
Data obtained by MANS show that in mid-December 2017, 380 euros were paid to the Buducnost Women's Handball Club from the budget reserve, 300 euros to the Buducnost Basketball Club, while Mornar received 50.
The Handball Association received 20 euros from the budget reserve, and the Table Tennis Club Budućnost received XNUMX euros.
However, Darko Radunović's department also marked this data set with the level of SECRET.
In MANS, they estimate that an even worse scenario is in the offing, because the Government, by amending the Data Secrecy Act, provided a fairly broad basis for declaring data secret.
"Performing the function of a body as a terminology that is not recognized neither in the Constitution of Montenegro nor in any international document that we have signed cannot be a legitimate basis for hiding data. According to that logic, anything could be declared secret - from press releases to the working hours of institutions to of course the salaries of officials and some payments. That is why it is one of the very, very insidious ways to essentially hide corruption, especially to hide electoral corruption," said Ćalović.
In this year's report for Montenegro, the European Commission also clearly indicated that Montenegrin institutions must be more open.
"The growing trend of institutions not publishing information is a cause for serious concern," the European Commission's report states.
Although they say that they will listen to the remarks of the NGO sector during the public hearing, the Ministry of Defense, which is the proposer of these changes, does not see anything controversial in this legal solution.
"Our opinion does not coincide with the opinion of the mentioned NGOs, but we are ready to listen to their arguments and accept them if they are correct," the Ministry of Defense said.
The government previously withdrew the proposed changes to the law because certain NGOs expressed doubts and the public discussion lasts until July 9, when a round table will be organized.
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