Mayor of Bar (Montenegro Post case)
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Former Mayor of Bar, Žarko Pavićević, is involved in two corruption cases related to the construction of buildings in Bar (see here).
- Country
- Montenegro
- Sector
- Public finance
- Offence
- Abuse of authority in business operations
- Phase
- 1st instance procedure
Description of the case
Former Mayor of Bar, Žarko Pavićević, is involved in two corruption cases related to the construction of buildings in Bar (see here).
Pavićević is accused of causing damage of €2.2 million to the state-owned Montenegro Post in 2011 by abusing his official position in the construction of residential and office space (see here and here).
Montenegro Post signed a contract for building this property with the Bar Construction Institute (Zavod za izgradnju Bara, ZIB). Pavićević kept control of ZIB although he resigned as a director after he became mayor of Bar (see here). The Post invested in construction land and should have received 30 per cent of the built property. However, ZIB introduced a third company in the construction without informing the Post. When ZIB went bankrupt in 2013, it transferred assets including the building rights to another company owned by Pavićević. ZIB also decreased the estimated value of the building and consequently caused damage to Montenegro Post of €2.2 million.
The high court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment filed by the special prosecutor against Pavićević on 29 May 2018. The trial is still ongoing, which indicates inefficiency of the judiciary (see here and here).
As Pavićević has been involved in several corruption cases, it is suspected that he established a scheme that captured local government to benefit selected interests (see here).
Legal description of the case
Abuse of authority in business operations, Article 276 of the Criminal Code for damaging Montenegro Post
Applicable Corruption offence
Abuse of authority in business operations
Suspects' institutional affiliation
Mayor of Bar municipality (at the time of the offence) and high-level official of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists until his resignation on 22 June 2016.
Date of offending
The offence took place during 2011
Sector affected
Public finances; Construction and urbanism
Related developments
In the wake of several corruption scandals, Žarko Pavićević lost political power as the mayor of Bar. He did not run for another term.
Court
High court in Podgorica
Related domestic or foreign cases
In 2017, Žarko Pavićević was sentenced to one year in prison by the high court. The ruling was confirmed by the appellate court. The charge was abuse of his official position and damage to the local budget up to the amount of €1.8 million when he authorised repayment of a loan to First Bank (Prva banka) for building civil servant apartments in Bar.
Current phase of the case in criminal procedure
First instance procedure. The trial was ongoing in February 2021.
Procedural history
On 25 March 2018, the media announced that an investigation was being launched against Pavićević for a corruption case. He is suspected of having abused his official position in the construction of residential and business spaces in 2011, damaging the budget of the state-owned Post (see here).
The high court in Podgorica confirmed the indictment filed by the special prosecutor against Pavićević on 29 May 2018 and the trial is ongoing (see here, here and here).
Obstacles
Resolution of the case
Between two to twelve years in prison, for the offence in Article 276, paragraph 2 of the Criminal Code that results in material benefit exceeding €40,000.
Charges pressed by the prosecutor in the actual case
Article 276, paragraph 2 connected to paragraph 1 (5) of the Criminal Code (see here)
Sanctions imposed
N/A
Sanctions enforced
N/A
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