Milan Čolaković acquitted of abuse-of-office charge in Podgorica

The High Court in Podgorica has acquitted Milan Čolaković, the former executive director of Montenegro’s Railway Infrastructure (ŽICG), as the Vijesti portal reports. He had been charged by the Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) with abuse of office, on suspicion of having enabled the payment of €331,096 to former Montenegrin railway employees.

According to Vijesti, the first-instance verdict was delivered by judge Vesna Kovačević. Her reasoning states that the money was not paid on Čolaković’s order, but by a unanimous decision of the ŽICG Board of Directors taken at its meeting of January 20, 2017 and executed on February 28, 2017 from the joint consumption fund. The court also referred to a final ruling of the Basic Court, under which it is not for the court to decide on cash payments — that competence belongs to the ŽICG Managing Board, Vijesti reports.

The background of the case is linked to the restructuring of Montenegro’s railways. Employees transferred to other railway companies had their housing resolved through a monetary substitution of €800 per square meter for flats allocated in 2008. Employees who remained at ŽICG were not paid immediately and sued the company; the Basic Court dismissed their claim for joint payment by ŽICG and “Željeznički prevoz” in 2015, and the High Court confirmed that decision in September 2016.

The SDT accused Čolaković of having failed, despite knowing the final ruling, to inform the Board at the January 20, 2017 meeting — thereby enabling the €331,096 payment. The court acquitted him, finding that the payment decision had not been taken by him personally, but by the Board of Directors.