Čabarkapa: Average salary of MASA employees is 864 euros, while members receive fees averaging 1,200 euros more
The average salary of employees at the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (MASA) amounts to 864 euros, which is significantly below the Montenegrin average, while their members received an average monthly compensation of 2,095 euros last year, which is 1,231 euros more than the average salary of employees at the institution, said coordinator of the Active Citizenship Program at the Centre for Civic Education (CCE) Sara Čabarkapa.
This non-governmental organization requested from the Montenegrin Acadecmy of Sciences and Arts, through a freedom of information request, a list of employees, their educational qualifications, and salary data.
- Although they did not provide a complete list containing all the requested information, incorrectly citing the Law on Personal Data Protection, the submitted documentation clearly shows that the base salaries of MASA employees are extremely low compared to the monthly academic awards and other honoraria received by associate and full members - Čabarkapa emphasized.
As she added, CCE received information on the educational qualifications and job positions of 41 employees, while salary data were provided for 33 of them.
- More than 20 percent of them receive the minimum salary of €600, including at least one person with a bachelor’s degree. CCE reminds that the law prescribes a minimum salary of €800 for persons holding a bachelor’s degree, which is why we call on MASA to urgently align salaries with the law in cases of such discrepancies. It should also be noted that only six employees, out of the 33 for whom data were provided, receive salaries of €1,000 or more, while the highest recorded salary amounts to €1,301.61 - Čabarkapa pointed out.
Of the three employees holding master’s degrees whose salaries are publicly available, one receives €1,024.96, another €951.47, while the lowest-paid master’s degree holder earns €891.50.
- Among the employees are also four PhDs. Two of them earn €1,022.48 each, one earns €1,061.57, while the lowest-paid holder of a doctoral degree receives €947.44. For comparison, the airline ticket for Dragan Vukčević to attend a conference in Moscow in 2024 amounted to €759.19 - Čabarkapa stated.
The average salary of MASA employees is €864, significantly below the Montenegrin average.
- According to MONSTAT data, the average net salary in Montenegro amounted to €1,022, meaning that the average salary of MASA employees is, based on the available data, €158 lower than the national average - Čabarkapa said.
According to her, it is important to note that some employees generate additional income through engagements on lexicons, the Encyclopedia of Montenegro, and other MASA-related activities, but these are occasional jobs.
- Given that the budget of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts has been continuously increasing and this year amounts to a record €3.13 million, as well as the fact that the building housing MASA cost 9 million euros, it is surprising that MASA is saving money precisely on the employees who enable its day-to-day functioning, especially considering that this kind of austerity is not applied to their members - Čabarkapa said.
CCE also reminded that MASA members last year received an average monthly payment of 2,095 euros, which is 1,231 euros more than the average salary of employees at the institution.
- At the same time, members are not obliged to come to the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts every day, something that some of them make significant use of. Furthermore, unlike employees, members receive a monthly academic award, which is an addition to their professors’ salaries, pensions, and other income. In addition to academic awards, they also receive honoraria for participation in projects, positions they hold within MASA, attendance at certain sessions, and so on. The total amount allocated for their honoraria last year amounted to nearly one million euros (€930,265.80) - Čabarkapa stressed.
Additionally, the Presidency of the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts appointed itself, together with three employees, to a Working Group for the launch of work on the Encyclopedia of Montenegro, which from February 7, 2023 to September 1, 2024 spent €104,044.52 on honoraria.
- CCE also notes that communication with MASA employees showed them to be dedicated and responsible professionals, which is why we believe their work must be adequately valued in accordance with their education, responsibilities, and contribution to the institution. They are the guardians of MASA’s institutional memory and carry a significant part of the burden of running the country’s highest institution in the field of science and culture - Čabarkapa said.
For that reason, CCE publicly calls on the MASA Presidency to recognize the importance of its employees’ work and align their salaries with Montenegrin laws and living standards.
- And if there are budgetary limitations, then those limitations should be applied to their own more-than-generous honoraria - Čabarkapa concluded.