Fleet Expansion: Million-Euro Acquisitions Planned

Although there is still no unified record of vehicles owned by the state, according to available data, the state’s fleet has exceeded 4.600 vehicles.

In 2013, the Government of Montenegro, led by then-Prime Minister Milo Đukanović, announced plans to reduce the state’s vehicle fleet to 2,159 vehicles (from 3,718 registered at the time). However, 11 years later, Montenegro remains far from that goal. The state currently owns at least 4,658 vehicles, which is 2,499 more than the target set a decade ago.

The number of registered vehicles with the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) currently represents the most reliable data on the size of the state-owned vehicle fleet. There are also discrepancies between the number of entities that, according to the State Property Administration possess vehicles (126) and the number of institutions that have registered vehicles they use (460), indicating that the record-keeping of state property is still not functioning adequately.

4,658 Vehicles Registered as State-Owned

According to data from the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) from February 2024, there are 4,658 vehicles registered as state-owned in Montenegro, which is 377 more than in 2022, and 85 more than in 2020.

The data provided by the Ministry shows that 460 institutions use these 4,658 vehicles. The Ministry of the Interior itself has the most vehicles—550. Following are Post Office of Montenegro with 345, the Police Directorate with 181, the Capital City with 169, and the National Security Agency (ANB) with 119. Several other institutions also have dozens of registered vehicles, including the Administration for Inspection Affairs (90), the Revenue and Customs Administration (77), Monteput (State Transport Company) (72), the Emergency Medical Service (54), the Cadastre and State Property Administration (44), the Forest Administration and Radio-Television Montenegro (each with 43), the Administration for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (42), Roads (40), Airports (39), and the Food, Veterinary, and Phytosanitary Affairs Administration (38).

The 10 state institutions with the largest vehicle fleets:

Name	Number of vehicles
Ministry of the Interior	550
Post Office of Montenegro	345
Police Directorate	181
Capital of Montenegro	169
Agency for National Security	119
Administration for Inspection Affairs	90
Revenue and Customs Administration	77
D.o.o. Čistoća	74
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management	74
Monte put d.o.o.	72

You can find the complete record of registered official vehicles from the MUP here.

According to these records, the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Rural Development have the most vehicles among ministries after the Ministry of the Interior, with a total of 74 vehicles. The Ministry of Defense possesses 68 vehicles, the Ministry of Spatial Planning and State Property has 21, and the Ministry of Capital Investments owns 19 vehicles.

Among local governments, after the Capital, the municipalities with the largest vehicle fleets are Tivat with 43 vehicles, followed by Bar with 32, Herceg Novi and Kotor with 31 each. The Parliament of Montenegro has significantly fewer vehicles (33) than the Municipal Assembly of Budva, which has a fleet of 61 vehicles. The Municipal Assembly of Pljevlja also has a larger fleet than the state parliament, with 38 vehicles. Additionally, several local companies in various Montenegrin municipalities possess dozens of vehicles.

However, this does not fully represent the number of vehicles used by state and local authorities and institutions, nor the costs associated with their use. This is because the data does not include vehicles that state institutions lease, with an obligation to return them after the contract period ends, as was done in the past by the Administration for Inspection Affairs and the Police Directorate. Although these vehicles incur costs for the state budget (multi-year leases, fuel costs, etc.) and are part of the state institutions’ fleet, they are registered by the leasing companies and therefore do not appear in the count of vehicles registered to state authorities, as confirmed by the Administration for Inspection Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior. In February, the Directorate for Inspection Affairs was using 40 leased vehicles, while the Police Directorate was using 130, all registered under the leasing companies (Auto Čačak and Erste Bank Leasing).

State’s Vehicle Fleet Worth at Least 20 Million Euros

The value of the vehicles, as reported by the 126 direct and indirect budgetary institutions that provided data, is €19,854,655.29, according to the State Property Administration. However, given that many direct and indirect budgetary users have not submitted data on their movable assets to the Directorate, and some have provided incomplete data, it is evident that this estimate is not final and is significantly higher.

This is also indicated by the number of entities that own official vehicles according to the records of state-owned registered vehicles, which is much higher than the number of entities that have submitted data about their vehicle fleet to the Directorate for State Property. Vehicles registered at the Ministry of the Interior’s branches are used by 460 institutions.

The value of the vehicle fleet has increased by €13,303,313.24 compared to 2020. The vehicles owned by the state, for which the then Directorate for Property had accounting values three years ago, were worth €6,551,342.05 at that time. The Directorate for State Property also noted that the average age of the vehicles for which data was provided is 15 years.

When asked about the number of vehicles for which they have records, the Directorate previously stated that a vehicle registry is being compiled and that the public will be informed in due time, with the data being publicly accessible on the Directorate’s website for the first time.

Despite the oversized state-owned vehicle fleet, budget users have requested the purchase of over 500 new official vehicles during the budget planning for 2024.

Uncertainty Over Fleet Optimisation

Before the end of its mandate, the government led by Dritan Abazović adopted information on establishing an interdepartmental working group aimed at optimising the management of the vehicle fleet. The document noted that there is no unified policy for the procurement and use of official vehicles, unclear prioritisation for this type of procurement, and significant and inefficient allocation of budget funds for these purposes. This highlights the need to optimise, improve, and make the management of the existing state-owned vehicles more efficient, leading to the proposal to establish a working group.

In the conclusions adopted at the Government session, the Ministry of Finance was tasked with forming this body and including representatives from the Ministry of the Interior, the General Secretariat of the Government, the Administration for Cadastre and State Property, and other relevant institutions. The Ministry of Finance was also instructed to inform the Government about the activities of this interdepartmental group.

It is unclear whether the new government, led by Milojko Spajić, supports this initiative and whether the interdepartmental team for fleet optimisation has been established since the change in executive power. Questions on this matter were sent to the General Secretariat of the Government on February 14, who forwarded them to the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Administration. However, no response has been received.

Million-Euro Vehicle Purchases Planned for This Year

Several state institutions and bodies plan to expand their vehicle fleets this year, which, according to their public procurement plans, will cost taxpayers at least €4 million. In early February, the Parliament initiated procedures for purchasing five new passenger vehicles, with a total value of €103,305. New vehicle purchases are also planned by the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption (ASK), Monteput, Regional Water Supply, the Central Bank of Montenegro (CBCG), and various municipalities.

In December 2023, the Government adopted an initiative from the Eco-Fund to introduce electric and hybrid vehicles for the public sector, offering subsidies of €7,500 for electric vehicles and €4,000 for hybrid vehicles. In the conclusions adopted at that session, all ministries and administrative bodies were instructed, and local self-government units were recommended, to prioritise electric and hybrid vehicles in their public procurement processes for new vehicles starting January 1, 2024.

Overview of Vehicle Public Procurement in the Last Three Years

Between 2021 and 2023, state bodies spent at least €5 million on vehicle procurement. This is shown by data from the Montenegrin Electronic Public Procurement Portal (CEJN) that we analysed, which exclusively covers vehicle procurement for state bodies and does not include the purchase of specialised and commercial vehicles, vehicles used by city services, or medical transport vehicles. During this period, as in previous years, vehicle procurement continued through financial leasing with the obligation to return the vehicles after the agreed period.

The tables below provide examples of some official vehicle procurements during 2021, 2022, and 2023.

2021.	Number of vehicles	Type of Vehicles (new/used/electric)	Leasing Purchase	Value (euro)
State Property Administration (for the needs of Police Directorate)	130	Used	Kupovina na lizing, s obavezom povraćaja vozila nakon 12 mjeseci	714.745
State Property Administration (for the needs of the Ministry of Ecology, Spatial Planning, and Urbanism)	8	New	/	129.400
RTCG (Radio and Television of Montenegro)	4	2 new electric, 2 used	/	84.408
Secretariat of the Judicial Council (for court needs)	2	New	/	55.902
Agency for Electronic Communications	1	New	/	29.724
Institute for Standardisation	1	New	/	16.488

Data from the Montenegrin Public Procurement Portal (CEJN) on vehicle purchases in 2021.

2022.	Number of Vehicles	Type of Vehicle (new/used/electric)	Leasing purchase	Value (euro)
Ministry of Defence	3	New	/	73.507
Parliament of Montenegro	2	New	/	53.180
RTCG	5	3 electric, 1 new, 1 used	/	132.721
Post Office of Montenegro	3	New	/	112.402
Monteput	1	New	/	41.950
Broadcasting Centre	1	New	/	20.489

Data from the Montenegrin Public Procurement Portal (CEJN) on vehicle purchases in 2022.

Data from the Montenegrin Public Procurement Portal (CEJN) on vehicle purchases in 2023.

Recommendations Regarding Official Vehicles Regularly Featured in State Audit Institution Reports

The findings of the State Audit Institution (SAI) have repeatedly shown that the records of state property are neither adequate nor complete. It has been established on several occasions that the State Property Administration itself does not consistently apply the regulations governing this area.

Between 2020 and 2023, the State Audit Institution issued multiple recommendations to state bodies regarding the use of official vehicles in a manner regulated by the Decree on the Conditions and Manner of Using Vehicles Owned by Montenegro. In the SAI’s Recommendations Register, by using filters with keywords such as “official,” “vehicle,” “car,” and “Decree on the Conditions and Manner of Using Vehicles Owned by Montenegro,” dozens of recommendations can be found for audits conducted in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

Although the Decree clearly defines who is entitled to the use of official vehicles, institution heads often grant themselves or their closest associates the right to 24-hour use of official vehicles through internal regulations. However, the findings of the State Audit Institution (SAI) indicate that the internal regulations of state bodies governing the use of official vehicles are frequently not aligned with the decree and related regulations.

This investigative article was produced within the Project “Procurement under spotlight – Making Watchdogs Work!”, with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Serbia and Montenegro within the MATRA Rule of Law program. Project aims to empower and motivate watchdogs to combat corruption and undue influence in public procurement.