From "Enthusiasm" to Wealth

Bulatovic's and Djukanovic's Personal Property

AIM Podgorica, 28 October, 1997

After the two vehement tv duels of Montenegrin presidential candidates, Momir Bulatovic and Milo Djukanovic, it was heard from the Democratic Alternative, a non-parliamentary party in Serbia, that both "Bulatovic and Djukanovic should be immediately arrested". The Alternative concluded that in a democratic country such as, for example, the USA, after the candidates had washed such an enormous amount of dirty laundry in public, state attorney would immediately issue a warrnat for their arrest and instigate an investigation. In Montenegro, of course, this did not happen. Bulatovic and Djukanovic ran in the second round of elections and the latter celebrated a victory. Although previously "informed" from rumours about the property and privileges of the two candidates, the public acquired corroboration for much of the gossip from their public confrontation. The candidates have not only confirmed what had been whispered and guessed before, but even added new elements to their dossiers.

When he was coming to power in the end of the eighties, Bulatovic humbly declared that he would never accept a professional engagement in politics, but that he would undertake only a job which demands voluntary work! At the time he bragged that he was driving a 12-year old "Lada", while his wife's account in the bank was constantly in the red. It is true that at the time Bulatovic owned practically nothing. With his wife and two children he lived in a two-room apartment. He had the small income of a university assistant professor, and his wife that of a government employee. Nowadays, however, family Bulatovic lives in one of the villas of 180 square metres, built on an exclusive location in Podgorica for high officials, and both he and his wife drive luxurious cars. Besides, Bulatovic has built a weekend cottage in the mountain resort Verusa near Podgorica, which is, for the sake of covering up tracks, registered in his father's name. What is the share owned by Bulatovic in some of the enterprises of his friends and relatives is still a secret.

However, that state and political affairs have not prevented him from taking care of "existential" problems of his near and far relations, is no secret whatsoever. Bulatovic's brother Dragan used to be a legal assistant of a Podgorica agricultural complex, where he worked on purchasing of fertilizers which was later the reason for a big scandal because of embezzlement. Although the public was at the time pointing its finger at Dragan Bulatovic, the authorities decided to sacrifice the then minister of agriculture Branko Abramovic, who was arrested, but then, after a long trial, released as completely innocent. In the meantime, the main culprit, Dragan Bulatovic, thanks to the recommendation of his brother, President of the Republic, became the director of the employment bureau, which after adoption of the Law on Transformation of the economy became the owner of the stock and value of one third of Montenegrin state enterprises. It was possible to hear in the tv duel that Dragan Bulatovic, from that post and under dubious circumstances, accommodated privately-owned enterprises belonging to his relatives with loans, at a very low interest rate. It turned out that the bureau headed by the President's brother granted almost two million-worth of loans, and out of that amount Dragan Bulatovic supported the business enterprise of his brother-in-law, Dragan Jovanovic, with 150 thousand German marks.

Between two rounds of presidential elections, Djukanovic's police arrested Bulatovic's best man, Miodrag Davidovic alias Daka, main "exporter" of Montenegrin cigarettes to Republica Srpska. The best man was indicted for tax evasion amounting to about 10 million marks, since it turned out that he sold most of the tobacco on the domestic market, while "export" ro Republica Srpska was just a pretext for exemption from paying taxes. Two days before the second round of voting, Bulatovic abused his legal right to grant amnesty and released his best man from jail and further investigation.

The other best man of Momir Bulatovic - magnate of Montenegrin publishing business, Janko Brajkovic - is even more powerful. Thanks to his connection with the President of the Republic, he annually prints 200 titles which is unthinkable even in much larger and richer countries than Montenegro. The greatest number of these publications is then, again thanks to the best man, bought by state-owned firms and institutions which simply race which will sooner and better curry favour with the President's best man. The climax of this connection was reached recently by printing of a special monograph titled Montenegro - The Ecological State, in which as the author appears no other but Momir Bulatovic himself, although in this luxurious edition of 200 pages, his is only the introductory text. How the book was "sold" and what were the fees paid for it can only be suspected based on the example of the Budva Municipal Assembly, the chairman of which allocated almost 80 thousand German marks from the municipal budget for purchasing of the monograph!

The third best man of Momir Bulatovic, Nebojsa Zekovic, is behind bars for alsmot six months. A couple of years ago he got as far as the post of minister of trade, and then, after he had been relieved of duty, became an omnipotent businessman who with one hand tied behind his back bought firms and business premises in his native Herceg Novi. He was arrested on indictment that he had caused damage to the state and various economic subjects of two million and 80 thousand dinars (700 thousand German marks).

Bulatovic's wife was not satisfied with the job of an ordinary advisor in the ministry of education. A couple of years ago, her husband found her the attractive job of the director of the Automobile Association of Montenegro (AMS), where Nada Bulatovic soon after developed a big business soon after. Numerous firms started circulating capital though the AMS, while at the same time the AMS acquired a monopoly in selling salt and import of bitumen. It leaked from official sources that through these business deals, Nada Bulatovic caused about 300 thousand marks worth of damage to the state.

Thanks to Momir, all the other Bulatovics quickly advanced. For instance, his cousin Nastadin Bulatovic, with a secondary school diploma and reputation of a minor journalist who had worked for years in Podgorica municipal paper Polis, was nominated assistant director general of state Radio-Television. Soon after the nomination he got a comfortable apartment. Brother of the President's wife Nada was appointed head of the President's team in charge of Prevlaka, and her father, although retired, became a member of the management board of Podgorica enterprise Drvoimpeks.

The dossier of the other presidential candidate and new head of the Miontenegrin state, Milo Djukanovic, is not so substantial nor voluminous, but it is suspected to be worth more than Bulatovic's.

The newly-elected president of Montenegro, Milo Djukanovic, is a veteran in politics although he is only 35 years old. He appeared on the public scene as cadre of Stipe Suvar, and member of the presidency of the socialistic youth. On the eve of the "anti-bureaucratic" revolution and dramatic developments which had been an overture to the bloody dismemberment of the country, he became a member of the central committee of Yugoslav communists. Because of unscrupulous squaring of accounts with his opponents he acquired the nickname "razor" at the post. Like Bulatovic, he also vowed that when he got to power he would sell the motor pool and mansions of nepotistic communist leadership. But, very soon after taking over power in Montenegro, along with his fellow combatants, from worn out sweaters and cheap jackets he jumped into Armani's suits and expensive limousines.

Djukanovic, however, had sufficient style and wisdom to eliminate his name from all possible evidence. His name is not mentioned anywhere, not even as the owner of a bank account, or any firm or real estate. According to papers he owns only an apartment identical to that of Bulatovic's and nothing else. That is why Djukanovic's brother Aco and brother-in-law Mesa were in the line of fire of his opponent Bulatovic and Belgrade regime press, and not the Prime Minister himself.

The mentioned two men are private businessmen and Bulatovic accuses them that they had acquired great wealth thanks to the sponsorship of prime minister Djukanovic. And he is certainly right. Djukanovic's brother Aco owns a house on the sea-coast in Bijela, from where he controlled during all these years (skimmer) trade of cigarettes with Italy. It is evaluated that this had brought him enormous wealth, and in the tv duel Bulatovic said that Aco owned a number of business premises and a couple of enterprises.

Djukanovic's brother-in-law, Mesa Kolarevic, is also several hundred thousand marks worth, but among the tangible evidence, Bulatovic pulled out from the file a house of 800 square metres which he is, together with a friend, having constructed for him on an exclusive location in Podgorica. His wife Ana, sister of prime minister Djukanovic worked in the beginning of the nineties in the branch office of Belgrade Inter-Export, the director of which is Slobodan Milosevic's brother Boro. When relations between Milosevic and Djukanovic became strained, Ana moved to the Podgorica district court, to the post of a judge.

Djukanovic's wife Lidija, although like Nada Bulatovic, she found employment in the automobile business, was not as ambitious and was content with the post of secretary for marketing. The firm ASI, once founded by AMS and privatized in the meantime, was subject to criticism of Bulatovic's headquarters because of enormous profit of over 100 million marks in 1996 which was linked to Djukanovic and his head of secret police Maras, who is claimed to be the nominal owner of the firm.

A certain number of private businessmen who have acquired enormous wealth overnight is also linked to the name of Milo Djukanovic. The example of Dusan Ban is a good illustration, whose wife is a school friend of priime minister Djukanovic. In just three years, from a seller of costume jewellery in Podgorica, Ban has become the owner of an enviable motor pool and a house downtown, which is over half a million marks worth.

This is an outline for the portrait of the two presidential candidates. Montenegro chose between these two. Cynics say that it is better this way than to elect some "pauper" from the opposition and then be forced to wait for another decade until he provides for all his relatives and friends. Djukanovic and Bulatovic have obviously taken care of such problems. Ordinary people are waiting their turn to be provided for.

Veseljko Koprivica

AIM Podgorica