Radulović points to another suspicious deal by the Democrats in Herceg Novi

Lawyer Veselin Radulović has supplemented a criminal complaint against the Democrats, the President of the Municipality of Herceg Novi and official of Democratic Montenegro Stevan Katić, the acting Secretary for Urban Planning and Construction Inspection of the Municipality of Herceg Novi Vladislav Velaš, and the company „Liming Projekt“, due to reasonable suspicion that they committed multiple corrupt acts during the arrangement of the Sutorina-Žvinje cable car construction project.

In the complaint, Radulović indicates that several individuals participated in these irregularities, including, for now, unidentified officials of the Municipality of Herceg Novi, as well as several civil servants and officials of the executive branch.

CORRUPT DEALINGS

In the complaint submitted today to the Special State Prosecutor’s Office, Radulović states that since 2020 to the present, the Democrats, Katić, Velaš, and the company „Liming Projekt“ have continuously undertaken actions aimed at implementing a pre-arranged project for the construction of the Sutorina-Žvinje cable car.

- There is reasonable suspicion that this is yet another corrupt deal within the same criminal organization. They used already established mechanisms of operation, identical to those in previous complaints (the Meljine-Petijevići concession case, public procurement, procedures without public bidding) - the complaint states.

Radulović also emphasizes that the decision on the Sutorina-Žvinje cable car project was made contrary to the law and without transparent procedures.

According to the lawyer, everything indicates that the decision was not based on public interest, but rather on the interests of members of a criminal organization and persons connected to them.

- The Democrats had the role and task of concealing abuses by members of the criminal organization and, through their influence on the executive branch, creating conditions for and encouraging the commission of criminal offenses that resulted in financial gain at the expense of the state budget and the environment. Through their officials and members, they ensured the preparation of false documentation for the construction of the Sutorina-Žvinje panoramic cable car and simulated the procedure regarding the need to prepare an environmental impact assessment, contrary to Article 14 of the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment, thereby enabling the commission of criminal offenses against official duty and against the environment - Radulović claims.

DIVIDED ROLES

Katić’s role, as reasonably suspected, was to unlawfully appoint Velaš as the authorized head of the Secretariat for Ecology and Energy Efficiency, so that he could issue a decision stating that an environmental impact assessment was not required.

According to the complaint, Velaš abused his official position and issued an unlawful decision. Lawyer Radulović believes that the task of the company „Liming Projekt“ was to prepare documentation containing false information about the location of the cable car’s starting station.

- From the documentation and the complaint related to the Igalo-Žvinje cable car construction project, there arises reasonable suspicion that the reported individuals applied the same pattern of conduct already identified in previously filed criminal complaints against the organization „Democrats – Democratic Montenegro“ and its officials. The initiative for the project originates from political structures that are part of the same organization, procedures are conducted without full transparency and in violation of legal procedures, there is reasonable suspicion of favoritism toward preselected entities, public interest is formally used as justification, while the real goal is the acquisition of financial gain for the reported individuals and the criminal organization of which they are members - Radulović states.

All of this, according to him, indicates that the cable car project is not an isolated case, but part of a broader pattern of activity by the same criminal organization.