Faculty of Philosophy in the zone of the criminal responsibility

Centre for civic education (CCE), upon the analysis of the available audit reports for Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Montenegro (UoM), noted that the scope of illegalities is alarming and that these require urgent reaction from competent bodies, as well as that responsibility needs to be determined and sanctions applied to the ones who are responsible.

Management of UOM is familiar with data that the CCE acquired, and that same management failed to initiate adequate measures to determine responsibility. Therefore, the CCE submitted that information in integral version to Prosecutors Office for further action.

Namely, numerous deficiencies were discovered in the financial management, based on the Memorandum of audit of Faculty of Philosophy (warrant no. 07-2255, 07-2255/1) and Conclusion of Managing Board (no. 07-183), for period 2011 and 2012. Among them, some are staggering in their scope.

Thus, for instance, Faculty of Philosophy for years took loans in irresponsible manner, without any previous serious analysis that could indicate the possibility of Faculty of Philosophy to pay off credit indebtedness. In 2011, it took 120.000,00 € in CKB, and in 2012 total of 108.890 € from Erste Bank. Both loans were accounted as incomes, whereby violating fundamental accounting rules and procedures. In addition, loan funds were used to pay off costs that were unnecessary.

Additionally, funds that were allocated for taxes and related contributions, were spent inappropriately. In that respect, in 2011, total of 186.732,57 € for: the repayment of loans in the amount of 66.129,62 €, that CKB charged in an enforced manner, and 120.602,95 € were reallocated to other expenses! In 2012, the practice of repaying the loans by spending the money allocated for taxes and related contributions continued, and in that manner 74.494,32 € of the loan was repaid from budget of funds allocated for taxes and related contributions. In 2012, this reached immense proportions, because out of 883.334,92 € of funds allocated for these purposes, 419.828,74 € were spent inappropriately, by redirecting their reallocation to other expenses, or 47.53% of funds in 2012 allocated for taxes and related contributions were spent inappropriately.

It was precisely the scope of unpaid taxes and related contributions the isssue that surprised the CCE research team, which analysed the documentation, because the figure is immensely high for which, as far as CCE knows, nobody was sanctioned so far. Namely, unpaid obligations based on taxes and contributions amounted 255.678,11 € in 2011. Accumulated debt of unpaid obligations based on taxes and related contributions for 2011 and 2012 amounted 726.111,42 €, according to Main Book, which is the result of inappropriate spending during both years, in the amount of 606.561,31 €, and less allocated resources by the University in the amount of 119.550,11 €. Hence, 83,54% of debt for unpaid taxes and related contributions in 2011 and 2012 is the result of inappropriate spending!

Management of Faculty of Philosophy did not look back much on obligations stemming from Statute of UOM either, thus it allocated 83.831,23 € less to University for part of income from tuitions than it should have, based on Statute, and in 2012, 10.185,12 € less than prescribed by Statute.

In addition to these, other illegalities were obvious, such as the illegal renting of club at the Faculty of Philosophy in 2012, for which, in line with the Law, Faculty did not reach previous concordance with Government, and the 100m2 club property, along with terrace, was rented for 1.000,00 € per month while Faculty operated, while the compensation for July, August and January was 250,00 €.

CCE reminded that this is just a part of irregularities, since the list is almost endless. This is confirming the CCE’s years long warnings on the need of detailed supervision over the financial management of UoM and all faculty units of UoM.

CCE urges the management of UoM to publish all irregularities with which they are familiar, as well as to inform the competent investigative bodies by themselves on such information. Otherwise the management of UoM becomes an accomplice in concealing these unlawful actions, as it was often the case previously.

Daliborka Uljarević, executive director