Centre for Civic Education (CGO) points to the non-transparent work of the Centre of Lexicography of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU), failure to meet deadlines for the preparation of lexicons, as well as possible violations of the Law on Culture.
The Centre of Lexicography of CANU, as a scientific research unit of CANU, was established in 2008, and according to available information it was “reactivated” in 2017, without explanation for the years-long interruption in its work. It is headed by Academician Dragan Vukčević, who at the time of “reactivation” was President of CANU, and is today also the Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Montenegro.
According to data from the CANU website, work has been initiated on 17 lexicons, of which six have been published, while 11 are still in progress. However, the website data is not regularly updated. Web editions of lexicons include the Lexicon of Visual Arts of Montenegro, the Lexicon of Diplomacy of Montenegro, the Lexicon of Montenegrin Dynasties, the Botanical Lexicon of Montenegro, and the Lexicon of Viticulture and Winemaking of Montenegro. Among digitized editions, only the Lexicon of Montenegrin Dynasties, the Lexicon of Diplomacy of Montenegro, the Botanical Lexicon of Montenegro, and the Lexicon of Visual Arts of Montenegro A–M and N–Ž are available. Although it was announced, the Lexicon of Archaeology, presented in December 2025, is still not available, which CGO has already pointed out to CANU in direct communication.
CANU’s financial plan for 2026 foresees €105,593.75 for work on ten lexicons: the Lexicon of Literature of Montenegro, Lexicon of Health of Montenegro, Lexicon of Diaspora of Montenegro, Lexicon of Agriculture and Forestry of Montenegro, Musical Lexicon of Montenegro, Lexicon of Science and Higher Education of Montenegro, Lexicon of Dramatic Arts of Montenegro, Ethnological Lexicon of Montenegro, Lexicon of Legal Culture of Montenegro, and Lexicon of Banking and Finance of Montenegro. At the same time, there is significant additional participation of other institutions in financing parts of these lexicons—the Ministry of Culture and Media, the Faculty of Law of the University of Montenegro, and the Ministry of Finance co-finance a number of lexicons at 50%, while the University of Montenegro fully finances the Lexicon of Science and Higher Education of Montenegro. Out of the 10 lexicons planned for 2026, deadlines have been extended for six of them (Lexicon of Health, Lexicon of Literature, Lexicon of Agriculture and Forestry, Ethnological Lexicon, Lexicon of Dramatic Arts), and in some cases more than once.
A total of €12,240.00 is planned for the head of the Centre of Lexicography in 2026, the same amount as for the Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Montenegro. This means that Academician Dragan Vukčević will earn €24,480 on this basis alone, in addition to other fees and academic allowances.
It is indicative that several projects financed or co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and Media have not been completed within the contracted deadlines, nor are financial and narrative reports on the use of funds publicly available, although this was a contractual obligation. Thus, the project “Research of Material on Montenegro in Vatican Archives,” funded with €10,000, was supposed to be completed by 1 November 2020, but has not been finalized to date, while according to CANU data €9,597.63 has been spent. A similar situation exists with the project “Lexicon of Literature of Montenegro” (in the contract referred to as “Lexicon of Writers”), for which the Ministry allocated €10,000, with total costs exceeding €72,736.81 according to available data, without a publicly available financial report. The Ethnological Lexicon, also co-financed with €10,000, was not completed within the deadline (November 2020), nor are there reports on the use of funds.
Financial and narrative reports are also missing for certain completed projects, such as the monographic publication on the work of Vlatko Gilić published in 2024 (deadline 1 December 2023), although the Ministry allocated €10,000 for the project, while reported costs are significantly lower (2,831.28 euros, of which €1,532.14 is for the author, €170.24 for the editor, and €1,128.90 for printing costs).
According to the Law on Culture (Article 77), a contractor who has not fulfilled obligations under a previous contract cannot receive funds for a new project. Despite deadlines from 2020 not being met, the Ministry concluded new contracts with CANU on 27 December 2022, thereby violating this provision. Additionally, since CANU did not complete projects within the contractual deadlines, under Article 80 paragraph 2 of the Law on Culture, it is obliged to return the total amount of funds received to the Ministry, with interest at the average bank interest rate on short-term loans.
CGO will continue to monitor the work of the Centre of Lexicography of CANU, and we call on the Ministry of Culture and Media to act in accordance with the law and regulate outstanding obligations with CANU, as well as for CANU to improve transparency and efficiency of its work.
Sara Čabarkapa, Active Citizenship Programme Coordinator