The Council of the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK) did not elect the director of that institution today.
At today's 33rd session of the Council, they interviewed two candidates for that position - Milica Milutinović and acting director Dušan Drakić.
The ASK director has not yet been elected because there were not enough votes, namely four out of the five required.
Council President Pavle Ćupić, and members Mladen Tomović and Slavica Mirković voted for the incumbent Drakić. Council member Aleksandra Vukašinović was against, and Dragana Šuković abstained.
Ćupić voted for the election of candidate Milutinović, Vukašinović and Mirković were against, and Tomović and Šuković abstained.
Ćupić announced that a new vacancy announcement for the director of the Agency will be made at the session on Monday.
Drakić: 50 percent of staff is missing
Drakić, responding to President Ćupić's questions about the biggest challenges the Agency has faced during his term, said that it is important to be aware of the starting point. "When I came last year, we had a collapsed institution," Drakić said.
He added that human resources and technical capacities are the biggest challenges in the Agency, and that they "have their roots in the previous management, due to various types of pressures. We are 50 percent short of staff," said Drakić.
The biggest challenge and the biggest problem, according to him, is building trust in the work of the Agency.
"Trust is hard to regain and easy to lose," he said.
Speaking about the priorities for the next six months, Drakić said that these are staffing, a complete transition to using an electronic system, as well as connections with institutions so that they can exchange information with each other.
He emphasized that the Agency must not be selective and must establish a system in which the same behavior will always lead to the same decision, or to the determination of a violation of the law.
"We need to have predictability in that sense," said Drakić.
He announced in-depth controls on illicit enrichment.
He said that the Agency is overwhelmed with cases that should have been resolved earlier. "My desire and interest is to deal with what is important now, in the previous period we had 564 backlogged cases, and in the meantime 244 new cases have arrived. It will take us two, three years to resolve these cases, and new ones will constantly arrive," said Drakić.
Council member Aleksandra Šuković asked Drakić how he commented on his informal meetings with public officials, to which Drakić replied that he did not know any of them.
"I met with them because we cooperate, and I won't do it secretly in secret places, but in public where everyone can see us and take pictures. No one will be able to expect me to turn a blind eye and put something aside," said Drakić.
He emphasized that the Agency must achieve measurable results in order for Montenegro to enter the European Union.
"My experience over the past 20 years and relationships with international partners indicate that I am a suitable candidate for this position. Regardless of the outcome of today's election, I will always be a friend of the Agency," said Drakić.
Milutinović: ASK has never properly followed up on the area of spatial planning
Milica Milutinović said that the area of spatial planning has never been properly monitored by the Agency.
"As someone who collaborated with the former director of the Agency, Jelena Perović, I can say that her opinion is the same," said Milutinović.
She said that the non-governmental sector has made a greater contribution to the fight against corruption in the field of spatial planning than state bodies. "The Ministry of Urban Planning is doing its own thing," she said.
"As you have seen from my biography, I began my work experience at the Directorate for Anti-Corruption Initiative, and from the very beginning I was able to see how the Agency was developing, until now I have not seen it turn into what the idea was at the beginning," said Milutinović.
According to her, the Agency's cooperation with the prosecutor's office so far has not been at a satisfactory level, but progress is visible.
Milutinović raised the issue that the Agency has rarely reacted independently ex officio so far.
She also spoke about the large number of service contracts in the public sector, which, she said, are a serious abuse of workers.
"I cannot believe that the Montenegrin government is commenting on the shadow economy, when they are one of the biggest violators of labor rights," Milutinović pointed out.
She also commented on the asset checks of public officials, adding that such a detailed check should be the basis when someone is employed in the state administration.
"There must be a system for cleaning up corrupt officials who damage the reputation of institutions," said Milutinović.
As she said, she gained experience in the Directorate for Anti-Corruption Initiative, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as well as in the cabinet of a minister without portfolio.
Milutinović answered questions from members of the Council, and member of that body Aleksandra Vojinović asked if she was aware of any decisions of the Agency and whether she had had the opportunity to read them earlier.
Milutinović commented on the decision in the case of the travel of former member of the Cabinet of then Deputy Prime Minister Dritan Abazović - Filip Adžić, in which the ASK determined that he violated the Law on the Prevention of Corruption because he went on a donated trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi in December 2021, which he had to refuse or inform the foreign donor that he could not accept such a gift.
She said that the decision was not precise and that the facts were not properly established.
"I would immediately return imprecise decisions and unclear explanations of decisions and they would not even reach the court," said Milutinović.
She praised the work of the current management.
"They made quick decisions on cases that the former director had been keeping in a drawer. The former management had a lot of room for improvement," she said.
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