The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) informs the public that the efforts we invested at the end of last year to improve the transparency of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU) have resulted in the publication of certain data that had previously been unavailable to the public. We have finally learned that for compensations paid to 37 academicians in 2025 – as of 20 December, a total of €925,965.60 was spent in net terms.
We remind the public that the budget of the highest state institution in the field of science and the arts has increased by as much as 135% over the past five years, although this was not accompanied by greater engagement of CANU Academicians, nor by improved transparency in the work of this institution.
Nevertheless, the activities of CCE over a relatively short period have led to smaller, but useful improvements, which enable the wider and interested public to gain clearer insight into the work of this institution. Namely, on 22 December 2025, CCE submitted to CANU requests for free access to information on all compensations and honoraria paid on any basis, in the period from 1 January to 20 December 2025, for full and associate members of CANU. In its response to CCE dated 9 January 2026, CANU stated that these were “information that is publicly available on the CANU website”. However, a review of the official CANU website clearly shows that these data were published only on 5 January, two weeks after CCE’s requests had been submitted. Additionally, the published data relate exclusively to the period from 1 January to 20 December 2025 – identical to the period stated in our requests and do not include the final 11 days of the year. For this reason, CCE has already submitted additional requests for free access to information, in order to complete these data for 2025.
By processing the available data, CCE determined that by 20 December 2025 CANU had spent €925,965.60 on compensations and honoraria for academicians. Of this amount, €864,333.60, or 93.35%, was paid to male academicians.
Additional analysis shows that individual compensations and honoraria ranged from €14,629.20 to €42,803.20. Although the average annual income of an academician amounted to around €25,000, this average is significantly increased by the earnings of the five highest-paid academicians: Dragan Vukčević with €40,296, Ljubiša Stanković with €40,544, Žarko Mirković with €40,769.60, Zoran Rašović with €40,958.40, and the highest among them, Predrag Miranović, with €42,803.20.
It should be emphasised that these compensations represent only additional income, given that academicians simultaneously earn income through regular employment, pensions, the status of distinguished artists, as well as through other honorary engagements.
Out of a total of three women with full and associate membership, the highest income was earned by academician Anka Burić, in the amount of €21,929, which is almost twice as low as the income of the highest-paid CANU male academicians.
It is also interesting that some of the most socially recognisable and active academicians are, paradoxically, among those who received the least money from CANU.
CCE expresses regret that parliamentary caucuses in the Parliament of Montenegro did not seriously consider our initiative to reduce CANU’s budget by €1.5 million, and to redirect these funds to those who need them more – single parents and young scientists. In this context, we point out that the Financial Plan of CANU for 2026 allocates only €100,000 to the Fund for Support to Scientific and Artistic Work, or €1,950 to the CANU Centre of Young Scientists and Artists, while at the same time, for example, €67,725.33 is planned for the CANU Presidency and €100,000 for the Fund for Improving Spatial and Technical Working Conditions of the Academy, despite the fact that €9 million was invested in the new CANU building completed in 2023.
In 2026, when Montenegro marks 20 years since the restoration of independence, CANU will have the largest budget since its establishment – as much as €3.13 million. Nevertheless, it does not appear that such a financial plan reflects a better understanding of the role of the Academy in the emancipation of Montenegrin society.
Finally, CCE also points out that membership in some of the most prestigious academies in the world, such as the German National Academy of Sciences, the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, or the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (with 38 Nobel Prize laureates), is not paid, but is considered an honour and a recognition. In contrast, some CANU academicians seem to have earned more during their time in the Academy than some Nobel Prize laureates, especially bearing in mind that the Nobel Prize in many fields is shared among several laureates.
Sara Čabarkapa, Active Citizenship Programme Coordinator