CCE: More than 113,000 euros spent on MASA Working Group without measurable results
The Centre for Civic Education (CCE) has once again drawn attention to the lack of transparency and the high fees paid by the Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (MASA) to the Working Group established to initiate work on the Encyclopedia of Montenegro.
As CCE previously pointed out, between 7 February 2023 and 1 September 2024, a total of 113,664.32 euros was spent on the Working Group tasked with initiating work on the Encyclopedia. Of this amount, 104,044.52 euros was paid in fees, while 9,619.79 euros covered additional expenses. During that period, the Working Group held as many as 33 paid sessions.
- By reviewing the minutes from 30 out of the 33 sessions, which MASA provided to CCE following a request under the Law on Free Access to Information, we found that the minutes generally do not exceed one page and contain neither agendas, decision-making procedures, voting records, nor dissenting opinions. Instead of recording formal decisions, they merely state that the members „discussed“ certain issues or „agreed“. The minutes do not refer to the annexes they mention (reports, analyses, study visits), nor do they track the implementation of previously adopted conclusions. For example, nowhere is it stated whether the deadline for organising the lexicographic material (31 March 2023) was met, nor what became of the preparation of the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Miroslav Krleža Institute of Lexicography – said Active Citizenship Programme Coordinator at CCE Sara Čabarkapa.
Over the course of more than thirty meetings, the Working Group primarily dealt with the same issues - defining the structure of thematic areas and proposing editors. As Čabarkapa noted, the Decision establishing the Working Group clearly stated that its task was „to initiate work on the Encyclopedia of Montenegro until the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia of Montenegro is established“.
- Even at its 30th meeting, the minutes merely record the „preparation of a proposal for the members of the Editorial Board“ - she stated.
The Working Group’s meetings were financed from the state budget line allocated to the Encyclopedia of Montenegro. As Čabarkapa emphasised, more than thirty paid meetings resulted primarily in one-page minutes, without measurable outcomes or any information on the financial effects of the Working Group’s activities. Although the first meeting announced plans to seek additional funding through international and EU funds, this issue was never mentioned again.
- Furthermore, even the numbering of the minutes does not allow verification of the actual number of paid sessions. Some sets of minutes cover several dates, while the Working Group meeting of 15 March 2024 was documented only by an unnumbered and unsigned note, despite the fact that important decisions regarding the structure of thematic areas were made at that meeting - Čabarkapa stressed.
She recalled that on 30 January 2023, the MASA Presidency appointed the Working Group, consisting of its own members and three MASA employees, with remuneration set at 20% of the average net salary per meeting. Already on 1 March, that remuneration was increased to 33% of the average net salary, without any explanation as to why it was increased, although the scope of work had not changed.
- In this way, the Working Group effectively determined both its own composition and its own remuneration, while the President of MASA chaired all meetings and signed the minutes, leaving the entire cycle of decision-making, implementation, and verification within a closed circle. Dr Miloš Đaković, identified as the „author of the software system“, joined the process at the sixth meeting without any publicly visible selection procedure. The minutes contain no information about a contract, the selection process, or the costs of his engagement, representing yet another indicator of MASA’s lack of transparency. Similarly, although the need for professional IT support was identified as early as the second meeting, the minutes do not show that this issue was ever systematically resolved - Čabarkapa added.
According to her, the documentation provided contains no overall project budget, estimated number of entries, work schedule, or planned completion deadline. The project's scope and duration were discussed only at the first meeting and were never revisited.
- At its very first meeting, the Working Group concluded that it would focus on „defining the concept“ of the Encyclopedia of Montenegro, and it nominally continued working on that task until the end of its mandate. However, after the Editorial Board of the Encyclopedia of Montenegro was established, it also opened an agenda item titled „Preparation of the Concept and Criteria“ at its very first meeting on 23 September 2024. The draft concept was finally adopted only on 10 March 2025, more than two years after work had begun - Čabarkapa said.
She emphasised that the Working Group case is illustrative of a broader pattern repeatedly highlighted by CCE: a body that effectively appointed itself and determined its own remuneration spent more than 113,000 euros of public funds over 19 months of preparatory work, while the results of that work cannot be established even from its own records.
- The very tasks for which the Working Group had been established - developing the concept, defining the criteria, and setting up the organisational structure of the Encyclopedia of Montenegro - were completed only two years later within the framework of the Editorial Board - Čabarkapa stressed.
CCE called on MASA to regularly, substantively, and transparently inform the public about the spending of funds allocated to the Encyclopedia of Montenegro.
- Citizens, who are financing this project, have the right to know what has been accomplished with their money. The documentation provided does not demonstrate that more than 113,000 euros of public funds produced adequate or measurable results - Čabarkapa concluded.