The annual financial report of the Montenegrin Film Archive for last year did not accurately reflect the financial situation, and the institution's operations were not in compliance with applicable regulations, according to the report of the State Audit Institution (DRI), which gave the institution a double negative opinion on both the financial and the part related to the compliance of operations in 2023.
The financial audit determined that the Montenegrin Film Archive incorrectly presented six budget items in its annual report for 2023, thereby making a total error in the net amount of 88.188,36 euros.
The audit of the regularity of business operations showed serious deviations from numerous legal provisions, including the Law on the Budget for 2023, the Law on Management and Internal Controls in the Public Sector, the Labor Law, the Instructions on the Work of the State Treasury, as well as the internal regulations of the Cinematheque.
The audit was conducted by the competent Collegium of the SAI: Dr. Branislav Radulović, senator and head of the Collegium, and Zoran Jelic, Chairman of the Senate and member of the Collegium.
One of the key findings relates to the illegal spending of money from the budget: 52.866,47 euros were spent contrary to the purposes stipulated in the Budget Law, namely on payments based on service contracts.
Problems were particularly highlighted regarding the contracts for additional work that Kinoteka concluded with its employees. The contracts did not contain information on working hours, and the auditors were not provided with documentation confirming that the contracted work was actually performed. Based on these contracts, a total of 2023 euros was paid out in 17.850.
Also, although the Annual Budget Law planned 49.724,31 euros for this purpose, the Cinematheque actually paid as much as 110.265,40 euros for service contracts.
The audit additionally determined that of the expenditures based on service contracts, included in the sample, 31,42 percent of the funds (11.442,10 euros out of 36.417,40 euros) were paid for tasks that were already systematized by the Regulation on Internal Organization and Systematization of the Cinematheque.
The SAI pointed out that the Montenegrin Film Archive must align its expenditure records in the General Ledger with the Rulebook on the Uniform Classification of Accounts for the Budget of Montenegro and Municipal Budgets. Also, funds received from the budget of the Ministry of Culture and Media must be used exclusively for the intended purposes.
The institution is obliged to establish internal control to ensure that payments for additional work are made only with valid documentation confirming the performance of the contracted work.
The Montenegrin Film Archive must develop and submit to the State Audit Office an Action Plan for the implementation of the recommendations by May 25, 2025, and report on the actions taken by October 25, 2025 at the latest.
Due to the seriousness of the identified irregularities, the Audit Report was forwarded to the Ministry of Culture and Media, the Parliamentary Committee for Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office.
Ministry of Culture: Measures taken against former management of the Cinematheque
The Ministry of Culture and Media has been informed of the Final Report on the Audit of the Annual Financial Report of the Montenegrin Film Archive for 2023, with its opinion and recommendations, the Ministry of Culture and Media announced today.
"In this regard, in the previous period, and in accordance with the powers under Article 78 of the Law on State Administration ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", No. 78/18, 70/21 and 52/22) and Article 97 of the Law on Culture ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", No. 49/08 and 38/12), this body carried out control over the work of the Montenegrin Film Archive, by authorized officers, back in 2023, when it identified certain irregularities and omissions in the operations of the supervised entity. Accordingly, appropriate measures were taken in relation to the then management of the institution. Considering the above, the Ministry, as the body carrying out the supervision, appeals to the Montenegrin Film Archive to implement all recommendations of the SAI as soon as possible," the MKM statement states.
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