Agency for Prevention of Corruption

Announcement from the 83rd session of the Council of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption

Nov. 29, 2022
Council of the Agency for Prevention of Corrupiton

At today's session, the Council of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption considered the Information on the implementation of the Annual Plan for Verification of Reports on Income and Assets.

It was established that in accordance with the adopted Annual Verification Plan for 2022, the Agency fully implemented the first phase of verification and carried out the administrative and technical processing of all received reports.

The annual plan envisages the verification of around 1,330 reports on income and assets in terms of the accuracy and completeness of the submitted data, as well as the determination of other violations of the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Corruption in the following categories:

  • The President of Montenegro, the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, the Prime Minister of Montenegro, all ministers, all general secretaries and deputy general secretaries
  • All MPs
  • All state secretaries, cabinet heads, ministry secretaries, advisors to the President of Montenegro, the Prime Minister and the President of the Parliament
  • All members of the Judicial and Prosecutorial Council
  • Half of the total number of general directors of directorates in ministries
  • Director of the Police Directorate and assistant directors of the Police Directorate
  • Protector of property and legal interests of Montenegro, Protector of human rights and freedoms, governor of the Central Bank of Montenegro
  • All members of the State Audit Institution
  • All presidents of courts and heads of state prosecution offices, the Supreme State Prosecutor
  • Half of the total number of judges
  • Half of the total number of state prosecutors and special prosecutors
  • Half of all persons appointed/elected by the Parliament of Montenegro (except for the previously listed categories)
  • Twenty directors of educational institutions
  • Half of the directors of health institutions
  • Ten managers of public companies, public institutions and other state-owned legal entities
  • Twenty persons elected/appointed by the Government (except for the previously listed categories)
  • Half of the total number of ambassadors
  • All presidents of municipalities and mayors, deputy presidents and mayors
  • Twentieth of the total number of officials elected, appointed or set by local administration
  • All presidents of the Assemblies of Municipalities/Capital City/Capital and secretaries of Assemblies of Municipalities/Capital City/Capital
  • Tenth of the total number of councilors in the local parliament
  • Ten managers of public companies, public institutions or other legal entities established by the local government
  • Twentieth of the total number of local officials elected, appointed or appointed by the Municipal Assembly
  • Ten of the total number of officials who take office in the current year, leave office in that year, submit an annual and two-year report upon termination of office.
  • Tenth of the total number of civil servants
  • All received reports related to the increase of assets over 5,000 euros.

During 2022, the Agency initiated the procedure of verification of reports on income and assets for 1807 public officials, of which, according to the Annual Plan, verification was initiated for 1,744 reports, 4 at the request of another state body, 16 at the request of a legal or natural person, 14 at an anonymous request, and 29 reports ex officio.

Verification of 1,512 reports was carried out, of which 1,472 were in accordance with the annual plan, 3 at the request of another state body, 12 at the request of a legal or natural person, 13 at an anonymous request and 12 ex officio.

Bearing in mind that the annual verification plan for 2022 envisages the verification of around 1,330 reports on income and assets, and that the verification of 1,472 reports has already been completed, the verification percentage reached 110.7%.

In the second quarter of the current year, the Agency started an additional verification of reports on income and assets for 20 selected officials based on the sensitivity of the area/subjects and function/position held by the public official, and in accordance with the recommendations of the Council of Europe experts.

According to the annual plan for 2022, the number of reports is 1,330, which is 50.47% more compared to the previous year, while the number of completed verifications of reports on income and assets this year is 51.13% higher (2021 – 974, 2022 – 1472).

Based on verification, 403 administrative proceedings were initiated against public officials due to possible violations of the provisions of the Law on Prevention of Corruption, while in relation to other reports of public officials in which there are possible violations of the provisions of the Law, administrative proceedings will be initiated by the end of March 2023.

As part of the second item on the agenda, the implementation of the semi-annual Report on the implementation of the current budget of the Agency for Prevention of Corruption for 2022 was considered.

It was established that the Budget is implemented according to the expected dynamics. The Agency's budget for 2022 is EUR 1,805,373.44, while the plan for 6 months is EUR 882,179.34, of which EUR 621,933.68 has been spent (percentage of execution is 70.50). It is important to note that due to the announcement of local elections in 14 municipalities, in accordance with the Law on Financing of Political Entities and Election Campaigns, the monthly consumption of APC budget funds was limited by the spending plan established by the Ministry of Finance for all spending units.

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