Montenegro officials face scrutiny over preferential housing loans

Boris Bogdanović, head of the Democrats' parliamentary group in Montenegro, has raised concerns regarding the criteria used to grant preferential housing loans to state officials. Bogdanović presented three specific cases, alleging that individuals received significant financial benefits through substantial principal write-offs.

According to Bogdanović, DPS MP Maja Bakrač received a 40,000 euro loan where only 8,000 euros of the principal is required to be repaid, while 32,000 euros was written off. He also cited Ministry of Health Secretary Nikola Antović, who allegedly received a 20,000 euro loan with an obligation to repay only 12,000 euros, and former Sports Directorate Director Miloš Lalević.

In response to initiatives to reclaim these properties, politician Draginja Vuksanović Stanković argued that while the allocations may have been illegitimate, they were legal under the regulations of the time. She stated that individuals who have already registered ownership rights are not obligated to return the properties, suggesting that responsibility lies with the government commissions that made the original decisions rather than the recipients.