The so called Tumour of the Mediterranean- a noxious seaweed, keeps spreading along the coast of Montenegro, venomous fish end up in fishing nets, and by a stroke of luck, they still haven't made it to the dining table, giant crayfish pop up, huge bluefish and dangerous mako sharks are on the horizon... while on the other hand, the authorities have no clue how to respond- for the time being    

The Tivat based St. Mark fishing vessel was gliding the calm open sea a few miles south-east of the Bay of Kotor. As the crew was getting ready to launch a dragnet into the deep, it noticed a commotion some two hundred metres away. A huge fish was locked in a death grip near the surface and its reflection gave off the position. The fishermen sped to the spot and found a dying greater amberjack whose lower half was chopped off. The unidentified 'villain thing' had a half a metre jaw mouth opening.

Some 46 new species of sea plants and animals have been confirmed in the Adriatic in recent years. Nonetheless the number is not final. Among them are some dangerous species like lionfish whose fin rays can be fatal to humans if not treated. Furthermore hazardous mako sharks are frequently spotted closer to the shore than before. The local fishermen have had a growing number of encounters lately with the species that inflict damage to their equipment or spoil the catch. They may have adverse effects on tourism as well.

New animal and plant species arrive due to global warming and increasing marine traffic. Vessels from all over the world carry tiny stowaways on their hulls and in their ballast waters- larvae and full grown fish, molluscs, algae and other creatures.

So far, the government hasn't tried to lay out a plan on how to deal with this global issue besides drafting a few papers. Furthermore there is no systematic marine ecosystem monitoring, especially when it comes to the spread of invasive and hazardous species like Caulerpa Cylindracea algae which many call the Tumour of the Mediterranean. According to Montenegro Investigative Reporting Centre (CIN-CG), it spreads unchecked and takes over seabeds along Montenegro's coast.

Dr Aleksandar Joksimovic is an ichthyologist and until recently on Montenegro's expert team that deals with Chapter 13- fishery of the EU accession talks. He points out that the Adriatic's temperature has risen by 0.6 degree Celsius in the last century. “That doesn't seem to be much, but even small temperature shifts combined with other physical and chemical parametres of the seas and oceans cause substantial changes in the living world. We can certainly say that the temperature shift has tropicalized the Adriatic Sea. The best example of that are new organisms which are bio-indicators of the habitat changes. As a consequence we have 46 new plant and animal species” emphasizes Joksimovic.

Dangerous Lionfish Fin Rays

The majority of non-native (allochthonous) species are unable to adapt and thus they disappear. A few manage to intergrate into the existing native species without causing any serious harm. Nonetheless, some species quickly adapt as they have no natural predators. Consequently such communities exponentially grow and push out native (autochthonous) species. As a result, biodiversity is on the decline, the food chain is disrupted and the whole ecosystem is affected. Invasive species put the ecological balance at risk for they threaten autochthonous fish and other organisms by feeding on them or kicking them out of their habitats. Arrivals of allochthonous fish contribute to social and economic changes. Some bring economic benefits while others pose a threat and harm the fish and fishing trade.

“We can already claim with certainty that about ten new species of fish and crayfish have fully accommodated in the Adriatic”- says Dr Mirko Djurovic, director of the Kotor based Institute of Marine Biology (IMB) in an interview with CIN-CG.

The Institute has been monitoring the impact of invasive species in the Adriatic for awhile. Its 40 experts (of whom 12 have doctoral degrees) and 7 post-graduate students, work together with colleagues around the region and with those further abroad to draft a new biological profile of the Adriatic. They published the 'Allochthonous Species of South Adriatic East Coast' monograph back in 2014 together with the Institute for Marine and Coastal Research of the University of Dubrovnik and the Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries in Split. Nevertheless the monograph is already due for an update given the arrival of new unwanted guests. Kotor's IMB also collaborates with marine biodiversity experts in Albania and Italy.

'Various satellite recordings indicate that the Adriatic in early July was very warm. Even over here ( the south of Adriatic) the surface temperature reached 26-27 degrees Celsius, which is pretty high at this time of the year. The sea temperature is very often the trigger for organisms' behavioural changes, like reproduction, feeding, etc. Hence there's a growing presence of the so called termophilic species which like warmer seas. “That's primarily the case with fish and crayfish” says Djurovic. He stresses that when it comes to the new species here, the lionfish, a native of the southern Pacific and the Indian Ocean, is considered a potential threat.

“The presence of this fish has been confirmed in the Adriatic. It is highly venomous and its toxin in the fin rays can be fatal to infants and older people” warns Djurovic and adds that certain jellyfish turn up in big numbers occasionally and that may affect tourism.

'Montenegro as a tourist destination is appealing because of the attraction of our sea. However, with each year we have more invasive species. We'll see how our tourism and fishery stand the test of time. “The warming up of the sea is also something to count on. It is hard to make any forecast right now”, says Djurovic.

The Mediterranean Tumour keeps spreading

Some of the invasive species like 'the Tumour of the Mediterranean' are harmful to the environment although humans are not directly affected. This algae was first noticed in 2004 when it covered only a few square metres of seabed in the Bay of Budva. Now it covers hectares of the sea floor. Experts warn that it will keep spreading as it has no natural predator while science still hasn't found a way to stop its progress. It grows fast and it spreads over seabeds as a carpet thus destroying sea flora and fauna. It is particularly harmful to posidonia sea grass which is essential for marine biodiversity and as such protected by international conventions. The aforementioned algae discharge an alkaloid substance which causes death to surrounding  organisms. It also affects fish, crustacean and molluscs which feed on seabed plants and live in rocks or sand. The areas covered by this algae become 'underwater deserts' rendering the landscape monotonous and poor in terms of biodiversity. It also harms diving tourism as divers seek areas abounding with fish, corals, clams and other creatures. The noxious seaweed Caulerpa has got the upper hand over substantial part of the Pakleni Islands seabed in Croatia in recent years thus slashing scuba diving revenues as tourists used to travel to see underwater walls with its distinguishing gorgonians.

“Upon discovery of Caulerpa near Budva in 2004 we conducted a certain monitoring so we could keep an eye on the algae and its growth” points out Dr Vesna Macic of IMB, the head of its laboratory for benthos and marine protection. Benthos is all plants and animals living at the sea bottom. Macic is the first one in Montenegro who discovered and scientifically examined Caulerpa. Unfortunately,  the Caulerpa database is not up to date as the government discontinued the monitoring (and the financing thereof).

“What we know for sure is that Caulerpa is spreading to more and more places. Earlier it was identified in Budva, Lustica and Donji Grbalj. Now those areas are even more infested with it, both in terms of size and depth. Now the noxious seaweed is present in previously intact areas south of Bar and Ulcinj. It's present at the entrance of the Bay of Kotor, around Dobrec and Njivice. I believe it hasn't spread further inside the Bay, and perhaps the fresh water influx there has something to do with it. Anyway, we can't be completely certain about it without detailed monitoring and research” – explains Dr Macic.

Apart from global climate changes and marine traffic, Dr Macic claims that the Adriatic biodiversity is also harmed by human activity like pollution of the sea, overbuilding along the shoreline, poaching, use of dynamite for fishing and fishing of date-shells. The latter practice is widespread. The Marine Fisheries Inspectorate conducted intense controls of restaurants and shops in August last year and in just ten days it confiscated 325kg of fish and seafood. It also found 25kg of date-shells in spite of the ongoing fishing ban. The date-shells are offered under the table though. In order to supply a single dish of date-shells in a restaurant (250-300gr) it takes the destruction of about one square metre of rocks by hammer. On the other hand it takes more than 20 years for the habitat to recover.

No Perception and Understanding- Thus No Money for Monitoring

Macic stresses that unlike Italy or Croatia, Montenegro has neither reliable data nor continuous systematic monitoring of physical and chemical parametres of the sea, of which temperature is the foremost.

“This country fails to understand that it cannot rely on single-point data scientific research projects by the IMB“. That's not enough and we must have an ongoing monitoring. Single-point data gathering is not the proper monitoring method. Next year we may do an entirely different project and do something else elsewhere- adds Macic. This kind of situation will pose a problem for Montenegro in accession talks with the EU when Chapter 27 comes to the fore.

Montenegro marine ecosystem monitoring programme is a part of the National Environmental Monitoring Programme and has been in progress since 2008. It is pursuant to the environmental and water resources protection laws, the protocol on classification of surface and underground waters and it's somewhat in harmony with MEDPOL criteria of the European Environment Agency (EPA) in Copenhagen. The EPA is in possession of our marine ecosystem data from 2008 to 2011. It also states on its website that reports for 2012, 2014 and 2015 are of smaller volume 'as a result of under funding while the 2013 monitoring didn't even happen due to inability to follow the obligatory tender protocol. The EPA still hasn't released the report for 2017 while the marine ecosystem data for preceding years are rather scarce and collected without consistency and frequency hence the overall picture remains hazy.

The EPA hasn't responded to questions about the aforementioned problems that CIN-CG submitted. The Agency didn't pay heed to monitoring of the noxious seaweed, except for 2016 when several locations were surveyed although it was known beforehand that Caulerpa had no presence there. There's not a single reference on other invasive animal and plant species that have gained foothold.

Professional and recreational fishermen alike can feel the marine change as the fish catch is not as great as before.. In an interview with CIN-CG the fishermen stated that the Bay of Kotor had an unusually high density of jellyfish with sizeable bell diametres. Also the year before the sea 'flourished' by outburst of algae twice. The second outburst happened in October which is an indicator of sea warming. In recent years 16 new fish species have been discovered.

'I come across the new species almost on a daily basis. They are mostly triggerfish and then lizardfish. Lately I've come across some new very small fish that we haven't seen before. They resemble tropical minuscule fishes in aquariums. Furthermore as we launch closer to the shore the bluespotted cornetfish often ends up in our nets'- says Srecko Andricic, a veteran fisherman from Tivat. He also claims that he spotted mako sharks several times which were chasing their prey and had jumped several metres out of the water. Andricic says that new fish are hard to sell although there are people who like well cooked triggerfish.

'We often net a lot of small squid whose shapes are different from those we know. We bumped into a subspecies of sole which had six spots instead of four. Not many alien fish turn up in my nets but they may in due course prove to be harmful to native fish' –estimates Andricic. He shows all unusual specimen to the IMB experts in Kotor. He says that at times he nets large shrimps of up to 300gr in weight in the waters close to the Bay of Kotor. He saw the same kind of shrimps in Thailand. In Solila near Tivat he found the remains of domicile crabs who lost a fight to a blue crab whose presence is ever growing.

'The blue crabs can be so big that a single one can cover the bottom of a large basket while their pincers can easily cut the 6mm net rope' –says this veteran fisherman from Tivat.

First Hand Encounters in Proximity to Shore

Fellow fishermen from Bar who are into tuna and swordfish 'big game fishing' also run into mako sharks in the open sea. By an unwritten rule the fishermen don't talk to the media about it. Their uploaded photographs and video clips on social network speak about encounters some ten miles off the coast. Sometimes they end up in the catch as it happened near Petrovac recently. Most of sharks are rather small, but witnesses have seen some exceeding three metres in length.

The shortfin mako shark (also blue pointer - Isurus oxyrinchus) is on record as the fastest swimming shark capable of speed of up to 70 km/h. It mainly feeds on tunas, bonitos, mackerels and swordfish. It is considered one of the most intelligent and also one of the more aggressive sharks. Around thirty attacks on humans have been recorded by these sharks around the world.

'It's hard to talk with confidence about mako shark growing numbers in the Adriatic. Those captured are rather small and young. They don't grow fast but we should take notice of them and see what brings them over here' – says Dr Mirko Djurovic.

Joksimovic admits that it's hard to control the spread of invasive species but they have learned something about those arrivals and how they fare in the new environment through information exchange with their colleagues around the region. He expects Montenegro to pass a law on invasive species by the end of this year. He stresses that the EU Directive 1143 on invasive species applies to Montenegro according to the Chapter 27 on environment which is a part of the accession talks with the EU.

The new Montenegrin law on invasive species will mostly be copy-paste of the EU Directive 1143. It will regulate import procedure and prescribe what is allowed or restricted in terms of alien species and draft a list of banned species and those that should be closely monitored. The law will have various provisions for action plans against inadvertent introductions and measures how to contain the invasive species, emergencies, tip offs, tracking and surveillance. The fines will range from 250 to 20 thousand euros.

When it comes to the sea itself the law can't do much there as invasive species arrive there either by chance or due to environmental changes. Deliberate introductions of the invasive species are more likely to happen on land and in fresh waters. The law should primarily aim to prevent deliberate introductions of new species and enable strict control of national borders. Bringing of larvae or grown ups of new species should be either prevented or reduced to a minimum as it is regulated by the already adopted Law on Ballast Water. Importantly, port authorities should be keener in enforcing the law.

'It's a fact that new species are here and they live next to us and with us. Therefore we must find the best way how to scientifically monitor, study and explain them to the public'- concludes  Dr Joksimovic.

Salema porgy and mullet under threat

As for the new species, some came from the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, and they are known as Lessepsian migrants after Ferdinand de Lesseps, the Suez Canal builder. As much as 14 species have been identified in the Adriatic in recent years, from dusky spinefoot (siganus luridus), silver-cheeked toadfish (lagocephalus sceleratus), reticulated leatherjacket, yellowstripe barracuda to yellowmouth barracuda.

Bluespotted cornetfish have settled in the south of the Adriatic and can grow up to 160cm. It's a predatory fish which feeds on economically important autochthonous species like bogue, pickarel, piper gurnard, anchovy and pilchard. As a consequence it is likely to expect adverse effects on local fisheries and the food chain.

Some of these species like the silver-cheeked toadfish, or fugu fish as it is known in Japan, can be very dangerous to humans.It is a fast-reproducing fish and is detrimental to the fishing industry because it cuts the fishing nets and eats the catch. It contains tetrodotoxin which is 1,250 times stronger than cyanide. It is considered one of the greatest delicacies in Japan once the toxin is neutralized. Fortunately this fish is not a part of our menu.

Dusky spinefoot have also been caught in the Bay of Kotor. It feeds on sea grass and lives in rocky seabeds covered by vegetation. It can grow up to 30cm. Its dorsal and anal fin spines contain venom that is not life-threatening to humans. In the eastern part of the Mediterranean it expelled salema porgy which was an autochthonous species.

'One of the most aggressive new species is bluefish (pomatomus saltatrix) which has spread over the entire Adriatic. It is aggressive with strong teeth and it literally decimates the mullet population. People from the Neretva estuary have already encountered such problems since mullet is one of the fishing industry pillars there. The bluefish has a commercial value on the other hand and its meat is very delicious. It also attracts recreational fishermen' states Dr Aleksandar Joksimovic.

Some of the alochthonous species, like the blue crab (callinectes sapidus), are edible and may be commercially exploited. Another species recently discovered is a shrimp (farfantepenaeus aztecus) which came from the Gulf of Mexico. It is very popular on the US east coast and is the hinge of the fishing industry over there.

The yellowstripe barracuda and the yellowmouth barracuda have inhabited the southern part of the Adriatic while the autochthonous European barracuda is very similar to them. Their meat is delicious hence there's a commercial potential for local communities. The Big Game Fishing tourism can also benefit from the above species.

Coming soon- aquarium and turtle asylum  

The IMB in Kotor has embarked on a project supported by Norweigan donors to found the Centre for Marine Biodiversity Protection whereby Montenegro could give its humble contribution to the world. Furthermore, the first public aquarium in Montenegro is expected by next summer, as well as a turtle rehabilitation centre. Similar centres exist in surrounding countries. The project also aims to help the authorities in Montenegro get a better view of all that stands in their way in terms of fulfilling the Chapter 27 goals of the accession talks. Therefore five workshops are on the schedule. They will help to scrutinize the national legislature in regard to the EU harmonization process.

Siniša LUKOVIĆ

Unlike other regional and European countries Montenegro has no legal protection of venomous snake species which makes them exposed to trade and smuggling. Biologists warn of looming hemorrhagic fever due to excessive nose-horned viper hunting

Each year more than 200 nose-horned vipers are exported from Montenegro to Serbia thus putting at risk this reptile species which is important for maintaining ecological balance. Montenegro is the only country in the region where law does not protect venomous snakes and hence they are fit for trade and smuggling.

Even though Serbia has never received export license from Montenegro, the nose-horned viper trade between the two countries continues without hindrance. The Serbian Ministry of Environmental Protection has already issued 4 annual licenses to Belgrade’s Institute of Virology, Vaccines and Sera – Torlak for the import of 300 live nose-horned vipers (Vipera ammodytes) from Montenegro. On the other hand, Montenegro’s Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism and its Environmental Protection Agency has repeatedly denied the export license. But the denial thereof in reality means- approval. The aforementioned Agency argues that the nose-horned viper is not a protected species in Montenegro and hence “the authorities are not obliged to issue a license”.

The Montenegrin Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIN-CG) queried the Serbian Ministry of Environmental Protection on just how many permits it has issued for the return of the nose-horned vipers to Montenegro. The reply came in only one word- “none”.

The same Ministry stressed that the nose-horned viper is amongst the protected species in Serbia and the capturing of vipers in their natural habitats has been illegal since 2013. The Torlak Institute consequently lodged its first request for import of snakes in 2014 when 140 nose-horned vipers arrived from Montenegro. In the next three years 218, 126 and 33 snakes followed respectively. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection another request for 200 vipers was lodged in May this year.

The authorities in Montenegro say that viper exports cannot endanger the species and don’t bother to step up protection. On the other hand, the field experts who spoke to the Montenegrin Centre for Investigative Journalism (CIN-CG) and the Monitor Weekly claim that such appraisals are reckless

The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MSDT) has highlighted that “according to up to date research and monitoring of the aforementioned species and their density (nose-horned viper and common adder) there’s currently no need for their protection on a national level”. Nevertheless the same Ministry says that “if it turns out that the Montenegrin Protected Species List has to be revised upon extensive field research in regard to Natura 2000 nomination, then the nose-horned viper will come to the fore”.

Natura 2000 is a network of core breeding and resting sites for rare and threatened species that stretches across all EU countries.

Furthermore, the MSDT told us that “As the Natura 2000 network criteria have to be met on the part of Montenegro prior to Montenegro’s accession to the EU, it is most certain that the Protected Species List revision will be decided by then”.

Likewise “depending on the state of the species, a total ban on hunting for antiserum may be imposed in certain localities of the country”.

The Agency’s ruling in March of this year quotes the opinion of the Department for Nature Conservation, Monitoring, Analyses and Reporting: “Capture and export of 200 Vipera ammodytes (nose-horned viper) from Montenegro in May-July 2018 (localities: Danilovgrad, Lazine, Koljat, Ocinici, Cetinje, Pecurica, Vladimir, Ostros and the Pljevlja area) does not threaten the species’ survival or has any impact on its population density”.

We repeatedly asked the Agency to explain on what premises it concluded that the capture and export of nose-horned vipers would not threaten that particular species. The Agency replied that it did not have the exact data but its finding was based on regular expert field surveys.

In an interview with CIN-CG/Monitor, biologist Vuk Ikovic emphasized that there were no credible statistics. He stated that “when it comes to a particular species, they conducted research in just a couple of localities but the overall situation has remained unknown”. He says that population research of the common adder and the karst adder took place in the Bjelasica National Park while the nose-horned viper was not included in the research.

Furthermore his colleague Bogic Gligorovic confirms that “there are neither spreadsheets of endangered species along with their locations in Montenegro. The drafting of the same may be in early stages at best”. Jovana Janjusevic of the Bird Protection and Research Centre points out that the estimates about how much the snake species are endangered are clearly made without scientific methodology.

“Therefore it makes sense to ask who determines the expediency and how many units of an endangered species are to be captured since Montenegro doesn’t have the Red Book of reptile populations review” she told CIN-CG/Monitor.

The Agency explained that “real venomous snakes population data requires a long-term research which can be very demanding due to inaccessibility of the terrain and climate conditions”.

There are 15 snake species in Montenegro of which three are the venomous- nose-horned viper, common adder and karst adder. The Nature Museum of Montenegro director Lidija Polovic points out that Montenegro abounds with reptiles unlike almost any other place in Europe, hence the country has a high responsibility to preserve that wealth for the generations to come. She explained to CIN-CG/Monitor that snakes had an important role in the ecosystem as they prevent the spread of rodents and insects. “The excessive spread of rodents could have harmful effects on humans in the sense of harming crops and other goods as well as posing as a health risk since they spread contagious diseases”.

The bubonic plague that killed a third of the European population in the 14^th century had been brought in by the rats that disembarked from the sea vessels that docked in the port cities- reminds biologist Ikovic. As the rats had no natural predators like snakes, the mortality rate was greater than in the country. He warns that certain localities may be deprived of nose-horned vipers due to excessive hunting, thus opening doors to hemorrhagic fever.

Besides the role they play in ecosystem maintenance, the snake venom is also used in cosmetics industry and in manufacturing of medicines that fight tumours, regulate diabetes, blood pressure etc.

The Torlak Institute makes use of Montenegro’s nose-horned vipers for the manufacturing of antivenom. Gligorovic explains that no other institution in the region supplies Montenegro’s health administration with snake antivenom. According to the Public Health Institute data for 2013-2016 there were between 33 and 38 discharges from hospital due to venomous animal attacks.

Ikovic further argues that another problem is the timing of nose-horned viper hunt which happens in early spring when male sperm is still under development. As a consequence, many vipers die upon arrival in the Torlak Insitute. “Likewise the vipers that have been milked for venom should be returned to their original habitat so to keep the population intact. Unfortunately, this has not been the case” says Ivkovic. Thus, the natural habitats cannot maintain the balance.

Biologists also warn about inadequate handling of snakes as hunters use long wooden grippers which squeeze the viper’s neck “thus damaging the esophagus, the mouth opening, and also breaks the neck bones, thus more than half of the captured vipers have such injuries. The hunters only care to have the snakes encased regardless of whether they are injured or not. The Torlak on the other hand never accepts injured or sick snakes thus exacerbating the whole issue – explains Ivkovic.

Herpetologist Rastko Ajtic published scientific research back in 2008 which pointed out that no existing national regulation protected the nose-horned vipers hence they could be hunted without restriction: “In March and April 351 vipers were netted in Montenegro to be sold to The Torlak Institute for antivenom manufacturing. The research emphasized that “the proper training of suppliers (snake hunters from Serbia and Montenegro) was one of the priorities of the Torlak Institute”.

Ajtic is currently a field associate- herpetologist in the Serbian Nature Conservation Institute and he confirms  in the interview with CIN-CG/Monitor that not much progress has been made when it comes to training: “As a matter of fact the snakes have not been hunted in Serbia for the last ten years so no one signed up for training. In Montenegro there are still those who hunt the nose-horned viper, but they are not adequately trained. I can say that because I check every imported snake to establish if it has injuries in the neck area due to inappropriate handling, since those injuries may eventually kill them.”

The snake hunters in Montenegro that CIN-CG/Monitor tried to interview declined to talk about this topic.

“The snake tongs are used to catch them, and then you grip the snake neck by hand so to avoid inflicting injury to a snake” we are told by the Environmental Protection Agency. We further asked the Agency to explain how the snakes are hunted for the Torlak Institute, who does the job, and how much the hunters get paid. The Agency’s responded that “very experienced local snake hunters who live in the hunting areas do the job. The Podgorica based Glossary Ltd. cooperates with the snake hunters when it comes to export of the catch”.

The Glossary ltd. says that the company imports and distributes snake antivenom, while in terms of nose-horned vipers export, it only acts as a forwarding agent. The Torlak Institute has remained silent to our inquiries.

“Montenegro should ban the nose-horned viper hunt until it has a clear situation on the ground and then the authorities should draft long-term measures to keep the stock in good shape” says Ikovic. He also emphasizes that one of the ways forward is to provide conditions for hibernation of vipers in the Institute as well as breeding in captivity.

Ajtic stresses that the Torlak Institute has managed, after 15 years, “to overcome all hurdles for the nose-horned viper breeding in captivity”. Recently the Institute made 300 viper terrariums for breeding, based on expert recommendations of the Nature Conservation Institute of Serbia.

Unlike surrounding countries Montenegro hasn’t changed anything in its treatment of reptile species. “Back then we were still in the federal union, and don’t get me wrong, I made an exhaustive list of animals (amphibians and reptiles) which needed protection in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and later in Serbia and Montenegro. When the list was concluded it turned out that those venomous snake species were expunged from the list. When I asked why, I got derisive responses from some people whom I wouldn’t like to name” recalls Ajtic.

According to biologist Gligorovic all three species of venomous snakes are legally and effectivelly protected in the countries around. That's not the case in Montenegro

In Croatia, the nose-horned viper and the karst adder are strictly protected species while the common adder is also on the protection list. Serbia as well as Albania also protect by law the aforementioned venomous snakes. In Albania the species are a part of the “Red List” with “low risk of extinction” status. Hunting, killing or disturbing those species is prohibited by law. The fine that one had to pay for killing a nose-horned viper in Serbia is 120€, while for killing a common adder the fine is 800€. To kill a protected animal also carries a prison sentence of up to one year. The fine for killing a nose-horned viper in Croatia is almost 1,000€.

The Nature Museum director Polovic believes that the reptile species protected list should be revised as soon as possible. “The populations of the nose-horned viper, the common adder and the karst adder are under threat due to destruction of their habitats, excessive hunting for either milking of venom or to have them in various collections. Also the merciless killing of snakes out of sheer fear further exacerbates survival of snakes''.

Biologists call for harmonization of the national legislature with the Bern Convention (on the conservation of European wildlife and natural habitats) which Montenegro did sign. “The nose-horned viper is strictly under legal protection pursuant to the Bern Convention and hence the snakes should be on the protected species list of Montenegro” says Ivkovic.

The Agency (EPA) explained that the protected species list was drafted and adopted in 2006 while Montenegro ratified the Bern Convention in 2008: “So the aforementioned list should be revised. Furthermore it is necessary to comply with the current norms and because new species have been detected in Montenegro lately”.

The Coalition 27 (named after Chapter 27 of the EU accession talks which deals with environment and the issues thereof) which gathers akin non-governmental organizations (Green Home, Bird Protection and Research Centre- BPRC, North Country, Niksic Youth Environmentalists Association and the Green Action from Croatia) in its Shadow Report points out that the species which are protected by law on the European level are not protected in Montenegro which is a daring example of the national legislation being out of step with the European regulations.

“The three venomous snake species along with some other species that didn’t make it to the protected species list in Montenegro will be back on the agenda once Chapter 27 is open. Consequently the government will have to meet a number of technical criteria including the Approximation Strategy adoption. That will be a clear action plan with time tables so as to produce visible results instead of earlier “progress has been made” remarks. Earlier very critical European Commission reports and European Parliament resolutions have made that clear”, says Jovana Janjusevic of the BPRC 

Officially there is no smuggling, but the market is thriving

There are many sales adds of Montenegrin nose-horn vipers on international websites where snake lovers get together. The most popular vipers are those from Ada Bojana which are highly valued because of their unique red shades.

We reached out to the seller in the Czech Republic and found out he had already sold the female viper from Ada. Nevertheless he said he would get another one during the summer and the price would be 100€. On another site a Dutch seller announced the sale of a Montenegrin viper. He explains that he sells a female viper from 80€. Both individuals declined to share how and where they got the vipers.

Biologist Vernes Zagora warned about the issue two years ago saying that a grown pair a male and a female) can reach the price of 700€.

In an interview with CIN-CG/Monitor Zagora stressed that the situation has not  improved: “We kept writing to the Agency to warn about particular cases. We haven’t received any reply”, ends Zagora.

The Agency acknowledges that it has received information from the Environmental Inspectorate, the Customs Administration, NGOs and concerned citizens about snakes being smuggled out of Montenegro. Consequently, “The Protocol for Handling” is currently being drafted in order to deal with the smuggling.

However, the Environmental Inspectorate claims that it has no findings about venomous snakes being smuggled out of Montenegro. The inspectors were called up only once by the customs officers at the Dobrakovo Border Crossing in July 2017 when a Red Tail Boa had been left by an unknown person between the border crossings and was subsequently caught and handed over to the Natural History Museum in Podgorica.

The Customs Administration has reported only 4 cases of nose-horned viper export since 2008 while no smuggling attempts have been reported. Nevertheless, that doesn’t prove that there is no smuggling though.

“Had our country protected the snakes on time we would not have had such a massive and illegal snake hunt and exhibitions of the same at the Terraristika Hamm in Germany -the largest European stock exchange of reptiles which happens three times a year” concludes Jovana Janjusevic.

Others do it better

Vipera ammodytes (Linnaeus, 1758); nose-horned viper, sand viper – the most venomous snake throughout Montenegro up to the altitudes of 1,500m and sometimes beyond. The nose-horned viper is not protected in Montenegro. It is listed as protected in the Appendix II of the Bern Convention and in the Appendix IV of the Natura 2000 network of protected habitats.

Vipera berus (Linnaeus, 1758); common adder – it is found in the altitudes exceeding 1,200m. The common adder is not protected in Montenegro, but it is in the surrounding countries of the region. It is listed in the Appendix III of the Bern Convention.

Vipera ursinii (Bonaparte, 1835); karst adder, steppe adder, meadow viper – the smallest venomous snake in Montenegro. It has remained in mountainous habitats. It can be found only in the altitudes above 1,100m. The Karst adder is not protected in Montenegro. However, other countries within the region have imposed strict protection. It has been listed in the Appendix II of the Bern Convention and in the Appendix IV of the Natura 2000 network of protected habitats.

Predrag NIKOLIĆ

“As soon as migrants give their passport for money, they face the highest risk of becoming victims of trafficking in human beings. There are examples on the route of illegal migrants from Greece to Macedonia and Macedonia to Serbia, but we have not had such cases so far in Montenegro”, said Vojislav Dragović, Head of the Montenegrin Border Police.

“In order to save our children we went through many countries - Turkey, Greece, Albania, and here we are now in Montenegro. Three days ago, we tried to cross into Bosnia, but we were beaten up by their police officers at the border. We slept in the toilet and we were sent back here. Montenegro is the only country where my children are treated as human beings. We don’t know where we’ll go next”, one of the migrants from Syria, who lives in the Safe House “Bona Fide” in Pljevlja, told Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG).

They come from a country devastated by war. Most of them are educated people who do not want to fight in the war, but to look for salvation for themselves and their children in one of the European countries. They face many troubles accepting indecent demands of those who are trying to make a profit on their misfortune. They accept to be treated only as objects for smuggling, and therefore in the official version, trafficking is often replaced by a “more decent” description of the criminal offense - smuggling in human beings.

A three-member family from Syria also resides in the Safe House. They failed to cross the Montenegrin-Bosnian border. A three-year-old girl went on a journey with her parents. Her father was a pilot, and her mother worked at a bank. After losing everything, they decided to leave their country and set off on the road full of uncertainty and suffering. They confirmed to CIN-CG that they tried to cross the border without specifying where, but were beaten by the Bosnian police and forced to return to Pljevlja, a town on the north of Montenegro. They are planning to continue their journey, but due to the harsh conditions and brutal attacks by the police, they hardly decide to try that again.

On the way to Western Europe, a large number of migrants pass through Pljevlja. According to unofficial information, they mostly use two border crossing points to reach Bosnia and Herzegovina – one on Metaljka and another one not far from the Šule mining settlement, which is less busy and less protected. Most of them are crossing borders illegally and going through hell while trying to reach the West.

Across the border, through woods at night

Over the past few months more than 650 migrants have visited the Safe House in Pljevlja. Sabina Talović, Director of the Safe House, explained to CIN-CG that the refugees get the necessary help there and stay until they decide to continue their journey.

“They arrive hungry, tired, wounded, with little children, in dirty clothes, with no belongings. Here they take bath, have haircuts, food, clothes, a place to sleep”, Talović said.

One of the migrants we talked to said that they reach Pljevlja by taking a regular bus line in Podgorica. He did not want to share with us how they would continue their journey towards Bosnia, nor who would be their connection for illegal border crossings. According to migrants, they mostly cross the border to Bosnia in the north of Montenegro by night, moving through the forest. They are equipped with modern phones, which they use to communicate with each other and exchange advice on the best places to cross the border. Thanks to satellite maps, they are well acquainted with the field in Pljevlja.

Several taxi drivers told CIN-CG that they were initially transporting migrants and all other passengers, but that they had been banned by the police, although that is what they do for living. They claim that they charged about thirty Euros for transport service to the border crossings Metaljka and Šula, and that certain groups charge 200 Euros for the same trip. They also suspect that the police are involved in the illegal transportation of migrants, not offering any evidence for their claims.

The starting point - villages near the border

Migrants are usually silent and do not want to talk to anyone. They carry backpacks and just walk forward as if they know where they are going – this is how Ahmet Aljoši from the village Donji Kravari, one of the southernmost points of Montenegro, describes his last year experience with migrants. In police files, this village which is placed near the Sukobin border crossing is one of the places that migrants first come across after illegally crossing the border between Albania and Montenegro on the territory of Ulcinj, a coastal town on south-east of Montenegro.

Aljoši says he has not noticed any migrants this year. There are two small roads that connect his house to the border. In the yard there are two dogs that do not like unknown people, and uninvited guests from the neighbouring country could not bypass them.

“They do not bark at night. I think these people have found other directions”, Aljoši said.

Opposite the Donji Kravari, just a few kilometres away, there are picturesque Albanian villages Murićani and Dodaj. This is a starting point for most of migrants, who are illegally crossing border to get to Ulcinj, Montenegro. From there, they continue their journey through Bosnia and Croatia to Western Europe.

In Albania, a shelter for migrants is in Tirana. According to our source from the police, in Shkodra they are organized in several locations at the edge of the city, which they often change in fear of police raids until they leave.

The land border is illegally crossed mostly by individuals, while larger groups of people organize themselves across the Skadar Lake, often through Bojana river, but also by the sea.

Montenegrin police are trying to return migrants to Albania if they find proof that they have previously stayed in that country, such as money or a sim card. If there are no proofs, after the hearing they are taken to the shelter in Podgorica.

Our source claims that some Albanian policemen have been involved in transferring migrants to the border.

“The Syrian, whom we arrested, showed us a secretly recorded video, showing an Albanian policeman taking him a hundred Euros”, he argued. Aljosa, who is employed in the Ulcinj Municipality Office, says that migrants are now avoiding Donji Kravari because of the police’s proximity.

Five times more migrants than last year

Vojislav Dragović, Head of Border Police of Montenegro, said that there has been an increase in the number of migrants going through Montenegro recently, but that number is currently not worrying.

Dragović explains that migrants enter Montenegro mostly through inaccessible areas and mainly on land, around Božaj, the border crossing with Albania.

According to police data, over the course of this year, about 1,500 migrants crossed the territory of Montenegro.

Currently, on average there are about 20 - 30 migrants per day, while a year ago there were five people a day.

“Migrants are not present at border crossings, because our officials are carrying out increased controls there. Based on the information we received, we enhanced the presence of the border police in the strip near Božaj, in the land area. About 70 percent of this area is along the railway line”, he said.

He added that the number of migrants coming from Albania has increased over the past eight to nine months.

“They see Montenegro as a transit country, which they want to leave as soon as possible and continue to move through Bosnia and Herzegovina most often to the countries of the Western Europe”, he said.

Dragović claims that the Montenegrin police treat migrants according to the human rights standards and that they are not involved in their illegal crossings.

He adds that criminal and disciplinary actions will be initiated against unconscientious police officers if any illegal behaviour of the police is identified.

“Police officers treat migrants according to law. We have no knowledge or a recorded situation that policemen physically attacked migrants in our territory, or that they participated in their illegal migration. So far we received no complaints about the behaviour of policemen, but only compliments”, he said.

He added that some of the international NGOs that are monitoring migration praised their attitude towards migrants.

“Among the migrants are women with babies and young children, and people with health problems. We try to help them whenever we can and in any way we can”, Head of the State Border Surveillance Department claims.

Two cases of smuggling since the beginning of the year

Dragovic says that criminal groups are often involved in their illegal transfer and according to their experience the majority of them are citizens of those countries through which migrants are passing.

“Migrants passing through Turkey, Greece and Albania have those who help them and who come from that country they are crossing. In several cases, we also had Montenegrin citizens involved in the illegal activities regarding migrants and they have been deprived of their liberty and prosecuted”, he said.

As soon as migrants give their passport for money, they face the highest risk of becoming victims of trafficking in human beings. There are examples on the route of illegal migrants from Greece to Macedonia and Macedonia to Serbia, but we have not had such cases so far in Montenegro”, claimed Dragović.

In February this year there was an attempt to transfer 17 migrants through the sea, he recalled.

“There was a case of a taxi driver from Bar who transferred migrants from Albania to Montenegro. Eventually he was stopped by our patrol which took appropriate measures and procedures against him in terms of criminal responsibility. There were several migrants in a vehicle, and the driver admitted the commission of the crime. He was deprived of liberty and prosecuted”, Dragovic said.

He adds that the proceedings are ongoing and that they are charged with criminal offenses - smuggling of people.

In these two cases, Dragović added, it was found that those who transported migrants charged them from 100 to 300 Euros.

He adds that in the past, there were no migrants at the border crossings in Montenegro.

“Our colleagues in the region identified a lot of migrants at the border, who were hidden in trucks and vehicles, while we do not have such cases recorded”, he said.

He also assessed that our police have a good quality electronic border control on Skadar Lake.

When asked by CIN-CG whether police officers are involved in illegal actions regarding the trafficking of migrants, Dragović said: “It is not likely to happen that a police officer is involved in illegal actions in relation to the transportation of migrants, because the whole group of officers would have to be involved. The large group of police officers is monitoring the situation, and their work is video recorded and monitored. We are not familiar with such cases, and the police are taking legal measures and actions to detect the cases of illegal migration”.

As he says there was one group of about a dozen migrants who were stopped to cross the border near Ulcinj, thanks to electronic monitoring system.

“They crossed the river Bojana on the territory of Albania and tried to get to the Stegmaš area by land”, he said.

He denied that taxi drivers were forbidden to drive them, but he highlighted they expected them to cooperate in situations when they transport foreign citizens to the border.

“We do not want to prevent them from carrying out taxi services, but we expect them to cooperate and report to us when they transport suspicious persons, so that we can control them”, he said.

He also explains that in 90% of cases migrants apply for asylum to the Directorate for Asylum in the Ministry of Interior and that this makes them free citizens who can move freely and use regular bus lines while their request is processed.

Dragović concluded that the situation is not alarming, but that it is certainly necessary to monitor the situation in order to keep the movement of migrants under control.

“Montenegro has a special plan in the event of a mass influx of migrants, and there is also an Operational Team that operates for this purpose and monitors the situation”, he concluded.

The razor-wire fence has not arrived yet

Last year, Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia returned a total of 458 migrants to Montenegro, and 36 more by April this year. During the last year, Montenegro returned 52 migrants to Serbia and Kosovo. By April this year, 21 people were returned to them.

According to the Police Directorate of Montenegro, Albania is the only country that does not respect the Readmission Agreement, according to which each country must accept the return of those migrants who came from that country and are recorded therein.

Albania did not accept any migrants who came from its territory neither this nor last year.

Dragović explained that Albanian colleagues did not understand well that all these persons came from Albania to Montenegro, and that Albanians are obliged under international agreements to accept them.

“We believe that we have managed to reach agreement on this issue and that cooperation with colleagues from Albania should improve in the future”, he said.

He added that building razor-wire fence is the ultimate measure, which Montenegro would not want to enforce.

“This is the ultimate option, or the ultimate measure, in case the borders of other countries towards Montenegro are closed due to the mass influx of migrants. In that case, the competent body of the Government would make a decision on this. The razor-wire fence has not yet arrived to Montenegro, and the donation has already been signed. The razor-wire fence was donated by the Government of Hungary, so that the Montenegrin police would use it in case it is really needed”, he said.

For now there are no radicals among migrants

Dragović said that for now there are no criminal offenses in Montenegro committed by migrants.

“So far these people have not disturbed public order and peace, committed serious crimes or anything else that would indicate that they are radicals”, he said.

The Head of the border police says that the migrants are currently from Morocco, Algeria, Pakistan, Syria and Iran.

“We know that there is a new wave of migrants in Turkey from Afghanistan and Syria. Some of them crossed Greece, others are moving towards Macedonia, and some towards Albania, which means that probably some of them will reach Montenegro”, Dragović said.

He adds that they follow the overall situation in the region and even Turkey through the cooperation with the border police of countries that are fighting the challenge of illegal migration, as well as with the support of representatives of international organizations such as IOM and UNHCR.

Goran Malidžan, Samir Adrović, Maja Boričić

Inspectors turn a blind eye to a number of cases of labour exploitation where women don’t get paid, or are forced to do extra jobs or are blackmailed

Although international organizations warn about the phenomenon of forced labour and labour exploitation, only two verdicts have been reached, and that was a decade ago. In the last 13 years Montenegro hasn’t prosecuted a single case of the forced labour trafficking.

International institutions report that mostly foreign men and boys are subjected to forced labour in the construction sector, while the Roma children are forced into street begging. Many foreign women are forced to work in Montenegro.

Montenegro has only two verdicts in cases of labour exploitation. Both trials took place in 2004 and 2005, when seven persons were convicted of labour exploitation and were given from two to three and a half years in prison. The group was made up of four Montenegrins, one Serb and one Ukrainian national. The victims were six persons Ukraine and twenty three from Bangladesh.

Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation is prohibited in Montenegro by Article 444 of the Criminal Code. Those found guilty risk imprisonment of up to 10 or 12 years. Zoran Ulama, Head of the Office for Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings, told the Center for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) that there was no justification for such poor results in combating the trafficking.

“It’s the duty and obligation of all of us to amend. We expect the police and prosecutors to improve in identification of victims in the time to come”, Ulama said. He points out that different statistical method makes us appear worst in the region when it comes to combat against trafficking.

“Potential victims are registered as victims of trafficking in the region. However, we do not register them as victims of trafficking even though we get them all the help they need and treat them as victims”, Ulama explained to CIN-CG.

Ljiljana Raičević, director of the Safe House for Women, told CIN-CG that only two verdicts reflect the incapacity of the institutions in charge.

“When a new hotel opens, for example, the inspection must make sure that all workers are registered, timely paid etc, and that sets the motion. That’s what they can and must do but they fail though. Bribes and corruption get under way”, she said.

Raičević recalls a scene in a newly opened hotel on the seacoast. The inspector in charge noticed that there was no hot water, that the soup was cold, but failed to notice that all the employees were from neighbouring Bosnia and didn’t bother to check whether they were registered and paid. “The inspections have the greatest responsibility, especially the labour inspectorate which fails to detect those cases”, Raičević said.

Raičević reminded that the United Nations (UN) recognized this type of exploitation as one of the most serious when it comes to women.

“There are various forms of labour exploitation, such as house work, or field work, hotels or any place where private businessmen do not pay their insurance, salary and refuse job contract terms”, she explained.

Raičević also explained how victims, usually foreign women, are manipulated in Montenegro:

“After first month, when managers are supposed to pay salaries, they usually say: you will have free accommodation and food, and upon three months you’ll get paid in total. In the meantime, you can live off your tips. Most women make a mistake by accepting the terms and usually after two or two and a half months they end up being expelled without being paid.”

Victims are further threatened and are afraid to seek help as their documents are in the possession of their bosses. They are forced to do things beyond their job description. This often happens to women from abroad. Most of them come from Serbia.

According to the Safe House for Women director the labour exploitation is less visible than other forms of trafficking in human beings and requires extra efforts to be discovered.

“Only the labour inspectorate can deal with it. However it is necessary to get all other institutions involved. Early detection of illegal work is crucial”, she concluded.

On the other hand, the Labour Inspectorate hasn’t replied the CIN-CG questions about the labour exploitation problem. The Free Trade Union of Montenegro also declined to talk about the problem, saying that its official was absent, and it had insufficient information on the topic.

Victims donate organs to cross the border

Ulama emphasizes that migrants are particularly watched as it has been reported in other countries that they even go that far as to donate their organs to cross the border.

“For now, we have no such information that it happens here as well, but the police is working hard on some cases. We will see the outcome”, he said.

Raičević also believes that we should beware about possible exploitation of migrants whose numbers may be on the rise in the months ahead, especially during the summer.

“They cross the border illegally or stay longer than allowed. They are more at risk because their documents are often taken away by their employers”, she said.

Work exploitation is often accompanied by sexual exploitation

A girl from Belgrade (Serbia) worked in Krašići on the seacoast, in a bar with another 12-13 women from Serbia, Macedonia and Bosnia. Only two of them were registered in terms of work permits.

She worked two shifts and expected to be paid accordingly. At the end of the month her employer told her that he did not have the money to pay her, but that he would double salary the next time.

“The following month, he brought two of his friends and proposed her to have sex with them, promising to pay her for that as well. She realized her predicament, refused the indecent proposal and managed to escape after 15 days”, Raičević told CIN-CG. It is one of many cases of labour exploitation of young women.

The girl reported the case to the Safe House for Women. Raičević, as the representative contacted the police. The next morning when the girl was supposed to testify, Raičević found out that she had left and that nobody knew her whereabouts.

“I suppose they blackmailed or threatened her, or someone gave her money to return home. Those women can’t wait to go home, and have no will to fight for justice and testify”, Raičević said.

She also points out that very often labour exploitation of women is accompanied by sexual exploitation. “Bosses usually take away their personal documents, blackmail them with various inappropriate offers, and very often they get physically abused and beaten up”, Raičević said.

Maja BORIČIĆ

Despite his excellent English, Montenegrin Businessman Dragan Buric has been having trouble explaining to his American partners and friends why – until recently – he had been unable to start a project in which he invested 13 million euros in Montenegro.

It was because of – electricity. The project, to build stables and dairies was supposed to mean that 60,000 liters of milk would start flowing each day last March. But, administrative problems in the municipality of Bijelo Polje over the supply of water and power to the site, got in the way.

“I tell them that Montenegro is just a baby that has not even started crawling and we are nursing it … Slowly, it will learn to walk, and soon enough, to walk properly,” this Honorary Montenegrin Consul in Panama says.

The new stables and hangers in the huge complex in Pavino Polje, on the road between Bijelo Polje and Pljevlje, remain empty.  Were it not for guards and some newly set-up power transformers – and the mast with the flag of Montenegro – it might look like an abandoned film set.

During 2015 and 2016, these buildings really were a set for frequent TV reports, however.

They were the backdrop to the promotion the large loan project for the development of agriculture in Montenegro, which the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, ADFD, was backing with 50 million US dollars.

Before the then Minister of Agriculture, Petar Ivanovic, brought the cameras and diplomats from Abu Dhabi, Buric and his company, Milkraft, had already bought the land, secured the permits and erected the buildings for a future modern farm, with 420 cows, milking and calving machines.

The ministry signed an agreement loaning Buric 3 million dollars late in 2015. Completion of works was announced for 2016 – and production was to start last March.

Eight more companies were financed from the 50-million-dollar loan that the Abu Dhabi Fund granted the Montenegrin government in June 2015.

Announced with much fanfare, the loan was intended mostly for big players in the market, as they were expected to drive the development of the Balkan country’s otherwise fragmented agriculture system.

However, even when money, ideas and entrepreneurs were ready, collisions with administrative barriers, messy plan documents and the modest capacities of the local communities created problems, according to research by CIN-CG/BIRN.

This caused delays and unnecessary costs related to the postponement of production and the storing of equipment.

The debts of some of the companies meanwhile increased, due to exchange rate differences, as the result of the US dollar strengthening.

It turned out that, even with the help of loans of 1 to 3 million dollars – even after investing significant sums themselves – when it comes to agriculture, Montenegro still does not have sufficiently good ideas and entrepreneurs to realise big projects over a short period of time.

By June of last year, 23 of the 50 million dollars had been handed out in loans.

The government then decided to separate the Fund from the Agriculture Ministry and to place it under the jurisdiction of an Investment Development Fund.

The conditions for obtaining loans were also changed, so that small farmers could take part as well.

But all the information on the loans remains a secret, including the findings of the internal and external auditors.

While the new credit line is awaited, through the Investment Development Fund, experts are divided about the initial strategy – whether supporting major companies was correct, and whether the conditions of the loans should have been tailored to them or to smaller producers.

Contracts kept under a veil of secrecy

Agriculture remains underdeveloped and fragmented in Montenegro, which is estimated to have as many as 49,000 small farms.

The intention of taking the loan from the Abu Dhabi Fund was to provide incentives for export and employment in the farming sector, especially in the undeveloped north of the country.

http://www.vijesti.me/vijesti/ivanovic-obecao-2000-novih-radnih-mjesta-u-poljoprivredi-836726

Although the board of directors of the Fund seated in Abu Dhabi offered Montenegro a loan in June 2014, the government wanted first to negotiate a cut in the interest rate and a longer repayment period.

The agreement, therefore, was not signed until June 2015, under more favourable conditions – with an interest rate of 2.5 per cent, a grace period of four years and a repayment period of 17 years.

By the middle of 2017, the government had signed contracts with 11 companies for projects worth 23.2 million US dollars.

Only nine of the 11 them actually got any money; two did not get loans after the government conducted additional checks.

However, according to the government itself, by halfway through last year, only one of the nine companies, Vektra Jakic, which got a loan to produce wooden fuel bricks, had actually started production.

The loan terms favoured larger companies, which were asked to invest 25 per cent of their own funds for loans up to 3 million US dollars.

The specific conditions under which these loans were granted to various companies are unknown, however, because the individual agreements are not publicly available.

That is why it cannot be proven whether some companies violated the loan conditions, or whether they are running late with implementation.

The Ministry of Agriculture, now run by Milutin Simovic, has refused to show the contracts and accompanying documentation.

“The Investment Development Fund is in charge of the project, so they [the ministry staff] do not have the requested information,” it said.

Meanwhile, the Investment Development Fund rejected CIN-CG/BIRN’s request for information on the contracts, saying that “giving them [to the public] would have an adverse effect on the commercial and other interests of both the Fund and other contractual parties”.

Milorad Vujovic, Deputy Prime Minister at the time, from the ranks of the opposition, says he also failed to see the master agreement and its annexes, agreements and mortgage securities, despite asking to see them.

“Declaring these documents secret is … illegal because they do not meet any of the requirements of the Law on Secrecy of Information, and such a decision of the Investment Development Fund would have to be disputed before the Administrative Court,” he said.

He said he also suspected that the information was “deliberately made unavailable to hide the illegal use of funds from the public”.

However, the former Agriculture Minister, Petar Ivanovic, from the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, DPS, claims the process of selecting companies was entirely transparent.

He says they received 32 applications and rejected more than half of them, because the companies - instead of applying for new and development projects – applied for a loan to repay previous debts or solve liquidity issues, which was not in line with project goals.

No power flowing – but interest rates rising

Some of the nine companies that were financed faced serious difficulties in the municipalities where they operated from the start.

Some of the projects are now in the final stage, while others are thinking of abandoning the loans because of the high interest rates they are paying due to the currency’s unfavourable exchange rate.

In the municipality of Bijelo Polje, Dragan Buric, owner of Milkraft, says he faced unresolved property-legal relations, there were no water connections, and he waited a year for the electricity connection.

He lost both time and, with each passing month, tens of thousands of euros of “hard-earned” money.

“I want to make something for Montenegro and I am greatly affected by what has been happening,” Buric told CIN-CG/BIRN at the seat of his company, GNC, in Podgorica.

He says he decided to invest in agriculture even though it is the most difficult sector of the economy.

“Serious companies did an analysis and a business plan, and estimated that the north of the country was best for this. When I saw Pavino Polje, I felt that was it,” he said.

The municipality of Bijelo Polje and the Ministry of Agriculture have confirmed that problems occurred in the realisation of this project, but say they have since been rectified. Buric himself now hopes that his dairy farm will be up and running by summer.

But it is not just electricity and water that have created problems for Buric. While he waited to start production, the US dollar rose in value.

When the companies took out loans indexed in dollars, their owners did not expect to lose tens of thousands of euros due to the rise in the dollar in just one year.

Milkraft is paying 70,000 euros in interest per year as it is, during the grace period. Because of exchange rate changes, he claims that he has already lost an additional 50,000 euros.

Cedomir Popovic, director of the company Carine, which is the sole owner of the company AgroCarine, also complains about the exchange rate changes.

“The amount of the principal debt went up from an initial 2.5 million US dollars to 2.56 million … So, in a year and a half, the negative exchange rate differences amount to about 60,000 dollars, or 51,000 euros,” Popovic said.

He now wonders whether such a loan agreement in the long run is profitable.

When the loan agreement was signed, he said, it was acceptable, given the interest rate and repayment period for his loan, which was set at 16 years, with a three-year grace period.

For now, despite the difficulties, Popovic says his company is settling its liabilities under the loan from the Abu Dhabi Fund. But the future is uncertain.

“It will soon be possible to get a loan under the same conditions with commercial banks, and without the risk of negative exchange rate differences, so the possibility of withdrawing from this loan agreement is not ruled out,” he said.

Dilemma of supporting big or small businesses

Although the decision was made to transfer the project from the Ministry of Agriculture in the middle of last year, the Investment Development Fund says it is still in the take-over, analysis and agreement phase with the Abu Dhabi Fund, surrounding the realisation of the loan.

However, it is known that the loan conditions will change and that the minimum size of a loan, now set at a million US dollars, will fall to 200,000 dollars.

http://www.gov.me/sjednice_vlade_2016/30

The government said the change reflects a wish to secure “a considerably wider scope of users”, and to adjust the conditions to loans’ “real absorption capacity”.

This is interpreted as an admission that the initial loan conditions overestimated the potential of Montenegro’s farmers.

Former Minister Ivanovic, under whose mandate the Fund was formed, still believes it was right to back bigger projects, which would then clear the path for smaller ones like icebreakers.

He doubts that small producers can spearhead the development of Montenegrin agriculture, manage the currency risks or provide guarantees for loans easily.

“Nowhere in the world are small producers driving agriculture forward. Whether someone likes it or not, this can only be done by the major players,” he said.

But, according to the agriculturalist Zeljko Vidakovic, the new concept is a better one. The loan from the Abu Dhabi Fund could have been a good locomotive had it been directed towards “ordinary farmers,” he believes.

However, he fears that Montenegrin agriculture is in such a poor condition that the new loan terms will also be difficult to fulfill, because they are still a stiff test for small producers.

“If you take a loan of 100,000 euros, you will have to provide guarantees worth 150,000, or usually 200,000, euros, so the collateral will always be 50 to 100 per cent of the value of the loan,” he noted.

“I fear that it would be a business barrier, exactly because of the collateral. Only a few farmers have high-value real estate in their villages, which they could mortgage,” Vidakovic added.

He says Montenegro needs a proper Agricultural Fund first. This would provide the guarantees for the farmers, and assess whether their pledged property is of any value.

It would also monitor any possible misappropriation of the funds, “so that the money does not go on buying cars, instead of tractors”.

Fund works in region as well as in Montenegro

The Abu Dhabi Fund is a state agency of the emirate, which mostly provides loans for financing economic and social projects throughout the world.

Apart from aiding development projects in agriculture, the Fund loaned 130 million US dollars to a water supply project in Montenegro.

https://www.adfd.ae/english/Countries/Pages/countrydetails_new.aspx?104

It funds similar projects in Serbia and Albania.

Some are content with their loans

At the end of November, CIN-CG/BIRN visited Mesopromet in Bijelo Polje, which got 3 million US dollars from the ADFD loan to modernise and expand its production of cured meats and fermented sausages.

Lejla Haskovic, from Mesopromet, said the funds had been used to get equipment and, in part, to finance permanent working capital.

“We are completely happy with the realisation of the contract as well as with the terms of the loan. The company invested 2 million euros of its own capital,” Haskovic said.

Agro Carine, from Podgorica, claims that, apart from the difficulties over the dollar exchange rate, no problems have arisen over the realisation of its project.

Up to now, they say they have built a restaurant for product tasting, procured agricultural machines and reconstructed the facilities for housing and farming sheep and hay.

A dairy still has not been built, nor has the water tank of 400 cubic meters, but they have been slowed down only by the short construction season.

By mid 2017, nine projects had received backing as part of the Abu Dhabi Project: Agro Carine, Vektra Jakic, Mesopromet, HM Durmitor, Milkraft, Eko-per, F.M.L., MI Goranovic and IM Gradina.

A government document, however, confirms that only one of them, Vektra Jakic, completed all works by the middle of last year.

http://www.gov.me/sjednice_vlade_2016/30

Ana KOMATINA

Young Roma activist Fana Delija, her family and colleagues face serious problems in their community while they are fighting for human and child rights.

I was physically attacked three times. “My colleague was stoned in her own house. My brother was injured in the head. But these are the risks we have counted on”, Fana told Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG).

She is a director of the NGO Center for Roma Initiatives (CRI) who has been fighting a long-standing battle against child and early marriages in the Roma community.

Under the veil of tradition, a trafficking in human beings (children) takes place in Roma community.

According to the CRI, about 60 cases of early marriage were registered in Montenegro in the last five years.

In the last two years, 49 cases have been reported to the police, but none of them was prosecuted. Mediators who are helping Roma children in elementary schools have recently complained to CIN-CG that two girls in Podgorica left school in order to get married.

The Roma National Council, an official institution for the Roma issues, denies these claims.

They state that the trafficking of girls and the arrangement of early marriages have been eradicated in recent years and that it is not happening anymore.

Aida Petrović, a Director of the Montenegrin Women’s Lobby and coordinator of the National Shelter for Victims of Trafficking, told CIN-CG that in the last five years they have been continuously providing assistance, support and care for the girls of the Roma population who were victims of early and contracted child marriages, begging and family violence.

From 2015 to August 2017, nine potential victims of forced marriage were staying in the Shelter. These were girls from Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo.

“The victims of contracted child marriages are between 11 and 14 years old. In Roma camps, boys aged 13 to 14 are also victims of early marriage and contracted child marriage”, Petrović explained to CIN-CG.

She stated that child marriages are common in this population.

“This can by no means be accepted and regarded as common in the Roma population. Early marriage and contracted child marriage are forms of trafficking in human beings whose perpetrators should be subject to sanctions of national legislation”, she said.

According to Petrovic, neither Montenegrin Women’s Lobby nor other organizations have the exact number of children’s contracted marriages, because there is no single database.

“Although the number of unregistered members of the Roma population is significantly reduced, there are still those who do not have any documentation, and such children “do not exist” in the institutional system. That is why many early arranged child marriages cannot be recorded, Petrovic explained to CIN-CG.

She explained that even when a case is discovered, often parents or relatives put the blame on girls, saying that they “run away from home because they fell in love” and that they could not have prevented them.

“There is a number of girls who come from nearby countries (Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania) illegally or with an excuse to go with their parents to visit their relatives in Montenegro. In reality, they are going in order to get married. Such agreements are made by families usually via the Internet, or by phone”, Petrović pointed out.

In the same way, Petrovic adds, a number of girls from Montenegro go to other countries where they marry according to the already agreed scenario of parents of the two families.

“Most often, these girls are taken away by their parents to marry in Germany, Italy, Austria, as well as in the neighboring countries such as Kosovo, Serbia, Macedonia, Albania etc”, adds the director of the Montenegrin Women’s Lobby.

Forced marriages are designated as the criminal offense of trafficking in human beings according to Amendments to the Criminal Code of 2013.

Marriage is forbidden to those under 16 years of age. Minors can marry after age 16, with the consent of their parents.

According to the last census, there are 8,305 members of Roma population in Montenegro, half of which are women.

According to United Nations (UN), around 140 million girls will be married by 2020, of which 50 million will be girls under the age of 15. A survey conducted by the CRI in 2014 showed that even 72.4 percent of the Roma population in Montenegro get married from 12 to 18 years of age.

CIN-CG previously reported that in the last three years Montenegro has not issued any final verdict for trafficking in human beings, and in the same period only one case of trafficking related to sexual exploitation has been processed.

The director of CRI points out that both ones who sell young girls and those who take money when arranging these marriages should be punished.

“It is worrying that in the process of the investigation carried out by the state prosecutor and the police, there is not enough material evidence on the basis of which the competent prosecutor would initiate criminal proceedings”, Delija says.

According to her, it is particularly worrying that after denying the contracted marriage, all the girls were returned to their parents who are perpetrators of the crime, mostly without any further supervision.

According to the Family Law, such families would have to be supervised by the Center for Social Work.

“According to the information we have, in two cases, this measure was carried out by the competent centers for social work”, the director of CRI said.

Goran Kuševija, Director General of the Directorate for Social Welfare and Child Care at the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, did not answer the question of CIN-CG whether the centers for social work carry out the necessary supervision of families suspected of selling their children for contracting marriages.

The elderly do not see the problem

Unlike young activists, the Roma National Council claims that the problem does not exist. They also strongly dismiss the unofficial criticism that heads of this umbrella organization have arranged marriages in their families, and that even the president of the Council Isen Gasi is involved in this matter.

“We will report every similar case. I cannot command anyone, but it has been two or three years that I have not heard that such thing happened, and nothing can happen without my knowledge”, Gasi said in a conversation with CIN-CG journalist.

When asked how he deals with that phenomenon, he said that he always “says at funerals that arranged marriages should not be done”.

Gasi said that the organization he runs has a monthly budget of about 4,000 Euros, which does not make it enough money to organize trainings and workshops on this topic.

“We are against all forms of violence that endanger and limit the freedom of Roma women, but we also advocate the resolution of these problems within institutions, through judicial and legislative authorities. The Roma Council condemns every form of arranged early marriages. We believe that the competent institutions should act repressively on such and similar phenomena”, the Council says.

When asked by CIN-CG to comment on the accusations coming from their population that members of the Council have contracted marriages in their families, the Council responds that “every member of the Council is completely autonomous, and has the right to their personal choice, attitude and way of life as an individual”.

At the same time, they stood in defense of their president, who “enjoys respect by the whole Roma community in Montenegro, which is confirmed by the fact that this is his third presidential term”.

“The entire Roma population in Montenegro believes that Isen Gasi is the only Roma leader to protect the interests of his community. The President of the Roma Council uses every opportunity to point out to his compatriots that it is necessary to accept new civilization values ​​and reject all negative segments of the tradition. Unfortunately, it is evident that no community can easily give up their customs and traditions”, the Council concludes.

Zoran Ulama, Head of the National Anti-Trafficking Office, says that it is necessary to put more effort into raising awareness, that the tradition should be respected, but not at any cost.

“The poor or non-existing education among the population is a problem. They don’t consider it a trafficking, although it concerns minors. It should be clear to everyone that it is a criminal offense”, Ulama stressed.

According to Ulama, despite the lack of cases which are processed, there is a growing number of cases which are reported. This suggests that awareness is raised about this issue.

Even after numerous insisting by the CIN-CG, we did not receive answers to questions from the police about arranged child marriages and the fact that reported cases mostly end up at their address and without an epilogue.

Virginity is on sale

Fana Delija, Director of CRI, explains that a narrow and wider family, neighbors, or reputable male members of the community and family gather when a contracted marriage is arranged.

“Then it is checked whether the girl is a virgin. The girl’s father guarantees that she is a virgin, arranges for a certain amount of money and the purchase of gold and clothes. Then they agree on the date of marriage”, Delija explains.

She adds that the amounts increase based on the social status of girls in the community and the fact that they are virgins. She claims that social status and virginity are valued from 500 Euros to several thousand Euros.

Victims of early marriages raising their own children in the spirit of tradition

According to a survey conducted by the CRI in 2014, as many as 72.4 percent of the Roma population get married between 12 and 18 years of age. Early interrupted childhood caused by marriage, illiteracy, poverty and survival, unconditional obedience to everybody in the groom’s house, suffering of various forms of violence, burden of family and housework, desire to meet patriarchal expectations in the role of housewives and mothers, are some of the burdens imposed on underage girls who are victims of early contracted marriages.

Aida Petrovic explains that the problem is that victims of early contracted marriages raise their female children in the spirit of tradition. She also adds that the Shelter’s protégées, among other things, have poorer health and often chronic illnesses, look much older than they are, and die much earlier because of their hard life.

“The joint work of institutions and the civil sector dealing with this problem, as well as the implementation of institutional mechanisms aimed at combating contracted child marriages, begging, violence, and increased level of education of Roma girls, can give them a good starting point to live their lives in a way that is worthy of every human being”, Petrović concluded.

On Tuesday 21 February 2018, Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) organized a conference Investigative Journalism and Code of Ethics - Obstacles, Challenges and How to Reach Professional Standards, as a part of the EU funded project Investigate for ME and EU, implemented in cooperation with Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). The goal of the project is to strengthen investigative reporting and topics related to EU negotiation chapters, in order to contribute to the transformation of society towards democracy and the EU integration process.

(more…)

Igor was an excellent student of medicine and specialized in obstetrics. Although his skills seemed in demand in his hometown in the north of Montenegro, he could not get a full-time job at the local hospital.

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A fifteen year old girl, originally from Kosovo, has already been “married” three times, and she has now been expecting with her last arranged husband. However, courts dropped the charges against her father, marriage contractor, and her second husband, for contracting a child's forced marriage, on the grounds of the lack of evidence.

The girl ran away from home when she was 13, to live with her boyfriend (17). They were together just for a month. She had to leave him because her boyfriend’s family did not want to pay her father for “marriage”. Soon, her father arranged a new marriage with a boy from Montenegro, recommended by a relative through Facebook.

According to her testimony, she illegally crossed the border with her father, who brought her to the next husband. The father was paid a thousand Euro by her father-in-law for this arrangement. It was agreed that equal amount would be paid out upon his next visit to his daughter.

The marriage lasted for about six months. The girl was a victim of various forms of violence by her husband, brother-in-law and father-in-law. She states that she was often hungry and beaten up by everyone. She also claims that she was forced by her brother-in-law to have sexual intercourse with him. She was threatened by her disabled father-in-law to have sex with him as well. Since the remaining thousand euros agreed for her marriage was never paid and after her complaints about the violence she was exposed to, her father reported the case to the police.

She was then taken to a shelter for victims of trafficking in Montenegro, where she spent two months. The police detained her husband and father. The procedure for the criminal offense of trafficking in human beings (contracted marriage) was initiated against her father. The court released him, stating that her testimony was insufficiently supported by evidence, and that there was no witness that such thing ever happened.

She then returns to Kosovo where she begins to live in a shelter for victims of trafficking and undergoes a (re)integration programme. A few months later, when she left the shelter, her father sold her again to a 42-year old man. She is currently expecting.

A painful story of the girl was told to a journalist from the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) by the President of the Montenegrin Women's Lobby Aida Petrovic, who is managing Shelter for Victims of Trafficking. The case of the young Roma girl is just one of many which either did not get to court or ended up by acquitting oppressors and exploiters.

Despite still being recognized as a country of origin, transit and final destination of trafficking in human beings, no final judgement has been made by courts in Montenegro in the last three years, while only one case was processed in the aforementioned period. The competent institutions put the blame on each other and even victims for such a defeating outcome.

In the last 13 years, 34 people have been convicted in Montenegro for the criminal offense of trafficking in human beings, while five have been finally acquitted of the charges. In the same period, 38 victims of trafficking were registered, of which 11 were men and 9 were minors. However, according to the Montenegrin Women's Lobby, which is leading the Shelter for Victims of Trafficking, 177 potential victims were staying there in the last 13 years, of which 69 were minors. Apart from eight domestic ones, other victims were foreign nationals between 12 and 45 years old. The crimes committed against them concerned labour and sexual exploitation, unlawful marriages and forced begging. Apart from Montenegro, the victims came from Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ukraine and Bangladesh.

In the same thirteen-year period, the police filed 21 criminal charges for trafficking in human beings, while the prosecution filed 20 indictments against 59 persons. The convicted were mostly men from 30 to 60 years old, originating from Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, Croatia and Ukraine. Article 444 of the Criminal Code of Montenegro prescribes a prison sentence of one to fifteen years for trafficking in human beings. If the victim is underage, the minimum penalty is three years. According to the legal definition, trafficking in human beings includes sexual and labour exploitation, abuse of children in pornography, trafficking in human organs and stem cells, forced marriage...

EC: There is trafficking, but there are no jugements

The latest European Commission document for chapters 23 and 24 states that there has not been a single prosecution for trafficking in human beings or a final verdict since 2015. It is also stated that many potential trafficking cases are being investigated and prosecuted under other offenses, such as brokering in prostitution and people smuggling.

Meanwhile, one case of a sexual exploitation of a 12-year-old child has been prosecuted. The High State Prosecutor's Office filed an indictment for trafficking in human beings in July last year against two Montenegrin citizens and it has recently been confirmed. The Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings confirmed to CIN-CG that the Prosecution recognized trafficking in that case, although the criminal charges were filed for rape.

The EC document points out that the main reason for the lack of verdicts is the absence of identified victims of trafficking in Montenegro due to poor capacity at the level of the specialized unit in the Police Directorate, lack of proactive investigations, difficulties with gathering the necessary evidence, lack of awareness on the variety of existing forms of trafficking in human beings. “It is necessary to work more systematically in multidisciplinary teams (especially with the Labour Inspectorate and social workers), and the need for better cooperation between NGOs and police units so as to improve their mutual cooperation and referral of cases to the police by NGOs”, it is stated in EC document. It is also stated that there is still a reluctance of potential victims to act.

The previous EC and State Department (SD) reports pointed out an inadequate number of cases, which discourages victims from reporting trafficking. In the US government report, which refers to the period from April 2016 to March 2017, Montenegro was granted the status of “a country on the Watch List”. Draft paper.

Begging and forced marriages most frequent

“Premature, contracted marriages and begging are recognized as one of the biggest problems”, said Zoran Ulama, Head of the Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings. He states that the efforts of the Office have not been recognised enough due to a small number of identified victims. Ulama admits that in previous years the Office relied mostly on victims’ testimony, ignoring material evidence, which often turned out insufficient for the court. He added that their priority in the future is to identify victims and strengthen professional capacities of employees in state institutions dealing with this problem.

“Regional cooperation, awareness raising and capacity building are needed. We did a lot in the field of education, especially regarding police. The focus of the activity should be on the local level as much as possible”, Ulama told  CIN-CG.

He assessed that Montenegro is primarily a country of transit, and occasionally a country of origin and an ultimate destination for trafficking in human beings.

Aida Petrović claims that there is no progress concerning the identification of victims, and that judicial institutions do not recognize the issue of trafficking in the right way. In her opinion, the centres for social work are the weakest link in the victim protection system.

“Minors should not stay in the shelter. The centres for social work are obliged to appoint guardians, but they cannot be reached on weekends, holidays etc”, Petrović pointed out.

However, Goran Kuševija, Director General for Social Welfare and Child Protection at the Ministry of Labour states that this is not true, and that the procedure for appointing a temporary guardian is concerned urgent, while the centres have on-call duty during holidays and on weekends.

“We have excellent cooperation with the Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings and we frequently organize joint meetings”, Kuševija said to CIN-CG.

The National Office now under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior

The National Office for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings is now under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Interior. Ulama believes this is not a good solution: “The Ministry of Interior (MoI) did not recognize us in the right way. The Office must have a great deal of independence in decision-making, especially in financial terms”. He explains that the Office now encounters many administrative barriers, and that they are not allowed to do anything without the approval of the Minister of Interior.

“This is a part of organized crime. For example, if a victim appears at 2 or 3 am, I am obliged to provide a taxi, and I can no longer do so without the approval. I told the Minister that maybe I should not be head of this team. I have been a head of the Office for seven years, my term of office expires in September, but if nothing changes I will leave sooner”, Ulama said. He adds that the national coordinators in the region are highly positioned in the system as deputy ministers, state secretaries, ambassadors... “The high positioning of national state coordinators shows readiness and dedication to fight trafficking”, Ulama stated.

CIN-CG tried to get an answer to why the Office went under the jurisdiction of the MoI in spite of the recommendations of the Council of Europe and the European Commission on the need to strengthen this body, as well as if that is preventing the work of this body. Both MoI and Ministry of Justice, as well as Ministry of Public Administration, have declared themselves incompetent, referring to each other.

More or less a secret shelter

Although it could unofficially be heard that the shelter for victims is not completely safe, and that the site is well known to many, Ulama points out that everything is under control. It is situated in “a more or less secret location”, and the victims enjoy protection in every sense. A free SOS line (116666) is available 24 hours a day at the shelter.

“We are considering a different model. Rent for the shelter, which is empty most of the time, is very high. That is why we are trying to find a better solution. We are considering with the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare the idea to rent a flat or some other accommodation upon the arrival of a victim,” Ulama stated.

Norwegian example of the fight against begging as a role model

The child begging opens doors to many forms of trafficking, although it is not a criminal offense per se.

Ulama pointed out that the Office carried out a research, which showed that the biggest child exploiters were their parents.

“There may have been some failures in that field, and the centres for social work would return children to their parents, i.e. their exploiters”, Ulama stated.

He adds that Norway has resolved the problem of the child begging in an interesting way. They adopted amendments to the law, stipulating that giving money on the street is an offense. In addition, a campaign was organized simultaneously. They printed stamps available on all tobacco shops, so instead of giving money, those who want to help can buy a stamp, intended exclusively for children beggars, who can go with this card exclusively to the Centre for Social Work.

“The Centre provides them with all the necessary assistance and protection; they are also obliged to invite parents or guardians, who undergo educations themselves for a certain period. When a child comes home with that stamp, instead of money, they no longer have a motive to send them to the street”, said the head of the Office, adding that we would try to follow the example of Norway.

USA: Far from standards

The State Department report covered 188 countries divided into three groups. The first group includes countries that fully meet international standards for the fight against trafficking in human beings, the second one includes those that do not meet the international standards, but make efforts to combat the problem, and the third one includes countries that do not meet international standards and do not make enough efforts to combat trafficking in human beings. Montenegro remained in the second group, but it was downgraded to Tier 2 Watch List.

The report stresses that the Montenegrin Government does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking in human beings, and that Montenegro is a source, transit and destination country for sex trafficking and forced labour.

“Victims of sex trafficking indentified in Montenegro are primarily women and girls from Montenegro, neighbouring Balkan countries, and, to a lesser extent, other countries in Eastern Europe. Sex trafficking victims are exploited in hospitality facilities, bars, restaurants, night clubs and cafes. Children, particularly Roma and Albanians, are subject to forced begging. Romani girls from Montenegro reportedly have been sold into marriages in Montenegro, and, to a lesser extent, in Kosovo, and international organized criminal groups occasionally subject Montenegrin women and girls to sex trafficking in other Balkan countries”, it reads, among other things, in the US Government report.

https://www.state.gov/documents/organization/271343.pdf

About two and a half million people in the world are victims of trafficking each year and criminal organizations involved in human trafficking earn about three billion dollars a year.

In a three-day period in 2008, during which one tender for the construction of military apartments was cancelled and another launched, the Montenegrin Ministry of Defence lost 1,500 square metres of housing space in the exclusive neighbourhood of Tolosi in Podgorica.

It is estimated that the value of the ‘lost’ space was at least 1.6 million euros, because at the time the tender was announced, the average price of a square metre in a housing development in that part of Podgorica was 1,100 euros.

BIRN and CINCG’s investigation showed that the Ministry of Defence cancelled the first tender on December 26, 2008 because the company that it chose to build the apartments, Cijevna komerc, could not offer a bank guarantee. Three days later new tender was open and the same company won the contract, this time being only bidder.

But instead of delivering 4,999 square metres of accommodation space, which is how much it offered to build for the ministry in the first tender, Cijevna Komerc delivered 3,500 square metres, which it promised in the second tender.

The Ministry of Defence approved 46 apartments, instead of the 70 that would have been possible if there were 4,999 square metres, but only 31 military employees were awarded apartments under to an internal procedure, while the others were allocated in other ways, some of them to people outside the army or the ministry.

The story comes against the backdrop of a widespread shortage of housing for military staff – over 1,150 military personnel have not been allocated the apartments to which they are legally entitled.

Cijevna Komerc from Podgorica is owned by Danilo Petrovic, who was under criminal investigation at the time on suspicion of endangering safety. The company has been awarded a number of lucrative state contracts in recent years, including undertakings to build a bridge, a library and the city assembly building in Podgorica

The tender change that caused the reduction in space has been under investigation since July last year by the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime and Corruption.

The Ministry of Defence does not see anything disputable in the deal with the Cijevna Komerc construction company.

The ministry said in a written response that it could not do anything about what it described as the unforeseen change in the banking and real estate markets between the first and second tenders, which it blamed for the fact that Cijevna Komerc gave it 1,500 fewer square metres of accommodation space.

But Nenad Cobeljic, the president of the Montenegrin Military Union, which represents members of the armed forces’ interests, disagreed and filed charges with the Special Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime and Corruption last May, alleging corruption and abuse of office. Prijava Sindikata Vojske

“Who the participants in all this are and how much of the cake went to who, I don’t know, and it’s not up to me to know, this needs to be verified by the Special and Supreme Prosecutor with whom I filed criminal charges and asked for the facts to be ascertained,” Cobeljic told BIRN and CINCG.

The Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it has received the complaint from the Military Union, that it has requested and received the necessary documentation and that an analysis is under way. It did not provide details about the preliminary enquiry, however.

Troops and pensioners without homes

All military personnel and public servants at the defence ministry are entitled to housing. But a large number of them have not had accommodation provided, and the Military Union estimates that at least 20 families were left without an apartment because of the contract with Cijevna Komerc.

The dramatic scale of the housing problem in the Montenegrin armed forces can be seen from Ministry of Defence data for 2016.

Out of a total of 2,000 employees at the ministry and in the military, 1,159 have no apartment, and 244 do not have adequate housing.

At least 250 military pensioners are also waiting for roofs over their heads, as they ended their military careers as tenants.

In order for the problem of military tenants to be at least partially solved, the Montenegrin government in July 2008, told the Ministry of Defence to hold a tender for the most affordable private-sector partner for the construction of a housing and office building in Tolosi.

The government specified that the private-sector partner must secure at least 3,200 square metres for the Ministry of Defence.

In such a partnership with a construction company, the state provides the land, while the contract between the state institution and the company regulates how many square metres of the finished accommodation goes to each party in the partnership.

The tender is usually won by the construction company that offers the state the biggest area of space.

In the case of Tolosi, the Ministry of Defence provided the land where a military storage facility used to be situated.

According to the tender announcement on July 31, 2008, each bidder was obliged to provide a bank guarantee for 100,000 euros along with the bid, with the money to be forfeited if the bid was revoked during the process.

The company that won the tender was also obliged to deliver a bank guarantee for 5,120,000 euros before signing the contract. LINK.

Bids were submitted by September 1, 2008, and three companies took part in the process: Zetogradnja and Gradnja Promet, about which the minutes on the public opening of the bids showed “no objections”, and Cijevna Komerc, about which the minutes said there were no major objections, except that “two copies were not delivered with the original” of a number of quality assurance certificates.

Zetogradnja offered the state 4,410 square metres of accommodation and a completion deadline of 14 months, Gradnja Promet offered 4,000 squatre metres and estimated that it could complete the building work in a year and a half.

The third bidder, Cijevna Komerc, offered 4,999 squatre metres of accommodation and said it could comlete the work in 13 months. Zapisnik 18.09.2008.

The Ministry of Defence’s tender committee decided on September 18 that all three bids were correct, although during the opening of the bids, Zetogradnja warned that Cijevna Komerc did not deliver copies of some original documents, not even a certificate from the Basic Court in Podgorica stating that there were no pending criminal proceedings against company owner Danilo Petrovic.

However, Zetogradnja did not file a formal objection to the Committee for Auditing Public Procurement Procedures, which is authorised to cancel a tender if it finds any illegality.

The Ministry of Defence told BIRN and CINCG that “the Committee for Opening and Evaluating Bids evaluated that Cijevna Komerc’s bid contained minor deviations, i.e. objections that did not have a major effect on the bid”.

The ministry also said that it was not relevant that there was an ongoing criminal action against Petrovic, since the condition for the tender was that he had not been convicted.

The decision to select Cijevna Komerc as the winner of the tender was made on September 22, 2008.

The mystery of the bank guarantee

In November 2008, there was a twist in the proceedings.

According to the Ministry of Defence, Cijevna Komerc informed the ministry on November 28 that Podgoricka Banka, due to problems in the financial markets, was not able to issue a guarantee for 5,120,000 euros.

The Ministry of Defence on December 26 cancelled the bid and fined Cijevna Komerc 100,000 euros for delivering a bid which did not comply with the Public Procurement Law.Odluka o ponistavanju prvog tendera

In the new tender, three days later, Zetogradnja and Gradnja Komerc did not bid, so Cijevna Komerc was the only contender and offered 1,500 fewer square metres of accommodation space.

The decision awarding the contract to Cijevna Komerc was passed on February 6, 2009. Odluka o dodjeli ugovora 06.02.2009

Ines Mrdovic from the Network for Affirmation of the NGO Sector, MANS, said that her organisation’s long experience of monitoring public procurements showed that it often happens that several connected firms go for the tender, but some of them are only pretending to be genuine bidders “without any real intention of getting the job”.

Mrdovic said that in such rigged tenders, the company which has been pre-chosen to get the contract makes a bid that is hard to decline, then the others drop out.

However it was not possible to ascertain whether or not something similar happened in the military apartment building tender. Danilo Petrovic, the owner of Cijevna Komerc, did not answer numerous phone calls from BIRN and CINCG’s reporters or answer the questions sent to him by email at the beginning of December 2017 and again at the end of the month.

Neither Zetagradnja nor Gradnja Komerc responded to questions about why they did not bid in the second tender procedure.

“It is incredible and unacceptable for a construction company to win a tender with an offer of 4,999 square metres of housing space… and for this tender to be cancelled because there was no bank guarantee,” said Cobeljic from the Military Union.

“After that, only this company bids and offers 3,500 square metres and wins. The question is, how did the bank provide a guarantee in the second tender, but not in the first?” he asked.

He argued that “it is not a problem to pay a fine of 100,000 euros if you get the next tender worth about 1.5 million euros”.

The president of the tender committee, Dragan Samardzic, and the defence minister at the time the tender was announced, Boro Vucinic, declined to answer BIRN and CINCG’s questions, referring reporters to the Ministry of Defence instead.

Investigations but no indictments

Instead of completing the building in Tolosi in 13 months, as Cijevna Komerc initially promised, it took much longer. The contract was signed in March 2009 and the constraction work ended in mid-2012.

It has a total of 18,000 square metres, of which 14,500 went to Cijevna Komerc, including apartments, commercial space and garaging. A square metre of space in the building now costs up to 1,400 euros.

Cobeljic said he hopes that the Special Prosecutor’s Office will deal with the case quickly, but NGOs are not confident, citing numerous investigations which did not lead to indictments.

The Special Prosecutor’s Office in June 2013 opened an investigation into allegedly dubious contracts between the state and Cijevna Komerc for construction and reconstruction work at the Institute for Implementing Penal Sanctions, ZIKS.

On June 18, 2013, police said that on the prosecutor’s instructions, white-collar crime inspectors seized documents about how ZIKS’ management worked with Cijevna Komerc. So far the probe has not led to any charges, however.

MANS has so far filed about 600 criminal complaints to prosecutors over tenders for state contracts, one of them against Cijevna Komerc, although this did not result in an indictment either.

MANS alleges that 80 per cent of the prosecution’s cases are currently unresolved, and claims that some complaints filed by the organisation have remained in drawers for ten years.

Meanwhile the secretary of the Association of Military Pensioners, Radivoje Zdravkovic, complained that in 2012, when the apartment building in Tolosi was finally completed, the ministry completely excluded its members from the allocation process, though it previously had received unofficial verbal promises that they would be included.

“We have a lot of people who have been waiting for an apartment for 20 years, some for even 30. It is especially sad when we see off pensioners to their final resting place from someone else’s house,” Zdravkovic said.

 

Cijevna Komerc’s state contracts worth millions

Cijevna Komerc often gets contracts worth millions from the state. The company built the Zeta Sports Hall, the Millennium Bridge, the local parliament in Podgorica, the capital’s City Library, and access roads to the Sozina tunnel near Bar.

According to MANS’ 2013 report ‘Town Planning Trapped by Corruption’, Cijevna Komerc’s deal with the state to build the City Library was an example of the circumvention of regulations.

Cijevna Komerc has been blacklisted by the Tax Administration. It owes 1,375,116 euros to the state according to a list published in October 2017, plus 203,679 euros in taxes and employee contributions.

 

What happened to the apartments?

According to the contract between the Ministry of Defence and Cijevna Komerc, the military was supposed to get 46 apartments, of which 14 were two-bedroom, 25 one-bedroom and seven studios.

But the Military Union alleges that in the end, only 31 flats were made available for allocation. The remaining 15 were awarded without a public competition, and some were given to other government departments.

The ministry told BIRN and CINCG that the 15 apartments had been allocated properly, however.

Four were given three families of killed members of the Air Forces and one flat to a professional military official with a command position of at least brigade commander, the ministry said.

Four more were allocated under decisions issued by the Committee for Housing Affairs of the Government of Montenegro - two to officials with managerial positions at the Ministry of Defence, one to the Directorate for the Protection of Secret Data and one to the Ministry of Finance.

Two further apartments were allocated to people as a result of court verdicts, according to the Ministry of Defence.

Five studios were meanwhile given to the heirs of a man called Petar Boljevic as compensation for the removal of his rights to the land, which he had owned before it was nationalised, the ministry said.