The latest public performance of the NGO MANS, called “Pandora Papers”, is just another in a series of attempts to discredit the President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, and members of his family, which MANS has been working on in vain for years. This is best confirmed by the fact that the owner of this NGO, Vanja Ćalović Marković, otherwise a member of the Government working body, did not know what to answer as a guest in the show of the Public Service to the simple question of whether something illegal was done there, Đukanović's office announced.
The President's office reacted to the claims of MANS, which within the global project “Pandora Papers” showed copies of agreements on the establishment of trusts and companies in offshore destinations, which were allegedly formed by President Milo Djukanovic and his son.
The reaction points out that, for the sake of the public, the President's office recently received questions from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, to which Djukanovic gave detailed answers that completely deny the untruths placed by MANS.
“He said that during 2012, at a time when he was not performing state affairs, he worked on establishing the infrastructure for starting business activities together with his son. At that time, he founded the Victoria Trust, which, while he was the owner, did not have any business transactions, did not open a single bank account, because it was simply never activated,” the statement reads.
After Djukanovic unplanned returned to the post of Prime Minister that same year, he transferred the entire ownership of the Victoria Trust to his son Blazo Djukanovic.
“So, in order to accurately inform the public, we repeat that the mentioned Trust existed only on paper, and everything published by MANS, and its owner Calovic-Markovic, is the most common malicious spin, in which, as agreed, Prime Minister Krivokapic and his deputy Abazović immediately joined. After all, everything is easily verifiable, so it is not difficult for the competent authorities to determine the real factual situation regarding the malicious allegations of MANS”, it is concluded in the announcement of Djukanovic's cabinet.