On Friday, Montenegro’s Special State Prosecutor’s Office arrested two former Ministers of Agriculture, Petar Ivanovic and Milutin Simovic, on allegations of abuse of office.

Both served as ministers in the previous Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS) administrations, which governed for three decades until 2020.

The Special Prosecutor’s Office informed BIRN that along with the two former ministers, a former State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nemanja Katnic, and another former head of the Finance, Accounting and Public Procurement Department, have also been detained.

Prosecution spokesperson Vukas Radonjic stated: “The crux of the criminal complaint … pertains to the distribution of funds to certain non-government organizations from April 2014 to July 2019 … which benefited these organizations and incurred losses exceeding 300,000 euros for Montenegro.”

Ivanovic held the position of Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development from 2012 to 2016 and subsequently served as a member of parliament for four years. From 2018 until May 2023, he was an economic advisor to Milo Djukanovic, the former president of Montenegro and long-time leader of the DPS.

Ivanovic, alongside former Agriculture Minister Budimir Mugosa, is already facing trial concerning the misuse of funds from the Abu Dhabi Fund, a state agency in the United Arab Emirates. The indictment, affirmed in October, accuses them of abusing their office.

In 2015, the United Arab Emirates agency provided Montenegro with a loan of $50 million to promote agricultural development in the northern region. The indictment claims that they, along with Milan Adzic, facilitated the improper use of these funds from 2015 to 2017. Ivanovic denied the charges in July.

Simovic, a prominent figure in the DPS, served as Minister of Agriculture and Deputy Prime Minister from 2016 to 2020.