Today, NGO MANS reported Montenegro’s President Milo Đukanović to the Agency for Prevention of Corruption (APC) and the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SSPO) on suspicion that he had used official aircraft of the Government of Montenegro for private purposes.
Namely, NGO MANS’ Investigative Centre recently published investigative story revealing that the aircraft owned by the Government of Montenegro flew to Paris on December 29 last year, returning immediately, and again on January 9 this year, and returned form the capital of France the next day – January 10. Exactly that day and shortly after the plane landed, MANS investigators took a photo of an official Mercedes Maybach used to transport Đukanović, accompanied by two other official cars, near Podgorica airport, as it was transporting passengers from the return flight of the government aircraft.
Data on the return flight of the government aircraft from Podgorica to Paris
In the meantime, the media reported that Đukanović was seen with his wife and friends in Miami, USA, where he reportedly stayed during New Year’s and Christmas holidays. On the other hand, there is no official information that Đukanović was in official visit to France or the United States.
Therefore, there is a reasonable suspicion that Đukanović used the government aircraft as a means of transportation to and from Paris, to return after the holidays. Since it was clearly not an official visit, Đukanović misused the government aircraft for private use, which the transit flight to Paris undoubtedly is. This requires urgent involvement of the competent state authorities – APC and SSPO in this case, who can gather information on how and for what purposes the state aircraft was used, as well as whether there were misuses.
Nataša Pešić, who as the Secretary General of the Government of Montenegro enabled Đukanović to use the official plane for private trip, is also charged with the prosecution for abuse of office. We remind that the Secretariat-General refuses to provide the public with any information on how the aircraft owned by the Government of Montenegro is used, on the grounds that it may endanger the security of protected persons.
Lear Jet 4O-MNE owned by the Government of Montenegro
Government aircraft may be used free of charge and for official purposes solely by the President of the state, the Government and the Parliament, according to the Instructions on the use of the state aircraft. The private trip to Miami was absolutely not official, and was partly financed by Montenegrin citizens, because the state budget also finances the maintenance and flights of this aircraft. MANS Investigative Centre found that a return flight by private charter from Podgorica to Paris and back would cost between 17 and 26 thousand Euros.
We expect APC and SSPO to determine how much money the citizens of Montenegro spent on an unreported private flight of the state aircraft and establish full responsibility for the apparent misuse of office at the expense of the public interest and the state budget.
MANS
