There is still no systematic approach to problem solving at the university of Montenegro

Centre for Civic Education (CCE) believes that the accusations made by the representative of the Biotechnical Faculty’s student parliament Miloš Bulatović, at the expense of some professors of this faculty who are claimed to have been performing pressure, in terms of threats and bribes, to members of the Student Council in the Parliament to vote for a candidate Slavko Mijović, are serious and yet another in a series of every-day illegitimacies affecting the University of Montenegro (UoM).

Such a scenario, already seen at other faculties, requires immediate implementation of the disciplinary proceedings against named Dejan Pejović and the candidate for the Dean of the Biotechnical Faculty Slavko Mijović. A review of the methods used by the certain professors and students in order to come to their functions is necessary, and primarily, the immediate filing of criminal charges against the suspects of coercion, extortion and bribery. Prosecution should ascertain the truth of all the statements disclosed.

It is obvious that at the University of Montenegro (UoM) there are number of issues relevant for the responsible investigative institutions, whom the CCE is calling for a long time to enter all organizational units of the UoM and identify the facts regarding misappropriations, pressures, extortions, bribes, double sales and multiple conclusion of harmful sale contracts, enormous profits, while the UoM itself has a minus, so far unheard of, etc.

The situation is no better at the Faculty of Philosophy. Information about the double collection of school tuition per one student, for which the EC has already provided free tuition through the project “Educational Policy”, are disturbing. In addition, it is unintelligible that misappropriation of tax evasion money and state contributions for employees under the justification of financial viability of this faculty is of no concern to responsible authorities in terms of initiating appropriate investigative and procedural acts.

Having in mind that all of this was not unknown to the UoM management, CCE needs to ask why there has been waited until now and why in this particular case, the President of the UoM’s Administration Board, Duško Bjelica avoids to impose emergency rule, but asks for the modalities that he haven’t been asking for when it was for the introduction of mandatory administration at the Law Faculty.

Also, CCE believes that the starting price of 1. 200 euros per square metre for the 11 apartments that the UoM has put in a bid for selling is too high in relation to the current economic crisis, and that it is therefore reasonable to expect that the issue of selling these flats can not be quickly resolved. Additionally, there should be kept in mind the earlier Bjelica’s statement that the construction company “Kroling” made unlawful double sale and sold apartments that are owned by UoM to third-person. The question is whether this covers also the residential units that have been released by this tender? If so, how is it even possible to publish a call for tender sale of flats, without previously checking all the legal procedures? And who, in fact, is the damaged party in the sales circle of flats repurchase?  This is certainly one more in a series of questions fot the responsible investigation authorities in Montenegro, which, unfortunately, avoid dealing systematically with the mere condition at the UoM.

CCE expects no significant improvement of the state at the UoM after completion of the control at certain faculty units, for which in all probability will be imposed mandatory administration, because this whole process is not sufficiently consistent and is based on double standards.

Snežana Kaluđerović, Programme Coordinator