The Ministry of Culture and Media does not have a PR service, nor does it have an independent public relations advisor, although this is foreseen in the systematization.
That's why it hires consultants for media promotion work, for which it allocates a considerable amount of money - as much as 23.000 euros from 2022, according to data provided to Television Vijesti from this department.
"From June to December 2022, a total of 10.329 euros (1.291 euros on average per month for a period of eight months) was paid for the external engagement of legal and natural persons for media promotion, while in the period from January to October 2023, for the same type of service paid a total of 12.799 euros (1.279 on average per month for a period of 10 months)," the Ministry of Culture and Media told Television News.
And in the Ministry of Public Administration, in addition to the two employees in the PR service, from 2022 they are hiring one external consultant who they pay 800 euros per month.
That they also need this type of external help, they also admit in the Revenue and Customs Administration, where they occasionally hire two consultants for PR purposes, but are silent about how much they pay them. They say that they need this kind of support because, out of four systematized positions in the Public Relations Bureau, only two are filled, one of which is on temporary leave.
Interesting data is also coming from state-owned enterprises. Thus, Elektroprivreda has nine employees in the PR department, but still hires external consultants.
"The number of employees is generally sufficient, with the fact that, depending on business challenges, there is also a period when there is a noticeable deficit in the number of employees, especially in the context of the organization of complex events. For the external engagement of PR consultants in 2023, the total allocated 2.600 euros, which is at the level of the amount from previous years," EPCG announced.
In CEDIS, too, they admit that they hire consultants, in addition to four employees in the PR department, but they keep quiet about how much they pay. The Public Relations Office of the Capital City says that they have seven people in the PR department and that they do not hire consultants.
Mayor Olivera Injac's office, despite several weeks of waiting, does not answer our questions about hiring consultants, although our unofficial information says that they have them.
For Ines Mrdović from Action for Social Justice, these data smell like irrational spending of money.
"If you have employees who need to do that type of work from the PR department, then it is completely unnecessary for you to hire someone from outside, unless you are going to do it for them. It can be said that this is an indicator of a wasteful attitude of state bodies and public bodies, i.e. institutions and companies towards public money," Mrdović said.
However, Mrdović believes that the situation is much more serious.
"It's the tip of the iceberg because if you were to scratch at any public institution or at most state enterprises or state bodies, I'm absolutely sure that you would find these things. So when everything is sublimated, then you get really big millions which are allocated on an annual basis from the state coffers, that is, from the money of all citizens, for these so-called consulting contracts," Mrdović said.
In the budget for this year, EUR 16 million is planned for total consulting services, which is a decrease of EUR 3,3 million, or 15 percent.
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