Tobacco.org

Cigarette Smuggling Case Discussed in January  

A decision on possible court proceedings against a group of nationals from Montenegro, Italy and Serbia on their alleged involvement in an international cigarettes smuggling ring will be discussed in January, a court in Bari, Italy, decided.

According to local media, the decision on possible court proceedings will be determined on 18 January.

They are accused of being involved in cigarette smuggling between 1994 and 2000, and the list includes seven Italians, five Montenegrins and two Serbs, broadcaster RTS reports.

The trial began in November 2001. The Prosecutor of Bari's court, Giuseppe Scelsi, included Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic in the investigation due to his alleged role in the smuggling.

"For almost a decade, Montenegro has been a haven for illegal trafficking, where criminals acted with impunity, while the ports of Bar and Kotor were used as logistics bases for motor boats, with protection which was guaranteed by the government," the court's document says.

Jump to full article »

Djukanovic’s Montenegro a Family Business 

In December, the administration of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic announced that Montenegro would bail out First Bank (Prva banka), one of the country’s largest financial institutions and a major investor in the Montenegrin boom. First Bank is majority owned by Djukanovic, two siblings, and a close friend.

Members of local watchdog groups, opposition parties, and journalists say this is just another example of the government’s interests aligning with the financial interests of the first family. They say their small country — fewer than 700,000 people in less space than the U.S. state of Connecticut — seems at times like the private corporation of the prime minister and his family. With Djukanovic’s political party handily winning elections at the end of March, the prime minister is expected to remain in power for another two years.

“Montenegro is a lawless country,” charges Milka Tadic, editor of the country’s influential Monitor magazine. “And if you are part of the government or close to its circles you can do whatever you want.”

Djukanovic has amassed a level of wealth that is hard to explain given his meager government salary over the years. Some believe his wealth stems from his days in the tobacco smuggling business. Italian prosecutors place the prime minister at the center of a conspiracy by Montenegrin officials and the Italian Mafia that allegedly smuggled huge quantities of cigarettes for about 10 years starting in the 1990s, although prosecutors did not specifically allege that Djukanovic profited personally from smuggling.

Allegations of corruption are attracting interest outside Montenegro . . .

“What is obvious is that Mr. Djukanovic and a number of government officials amassed enormous riches during the 1990s, and now with that money they are unabashedly buying Montenegrin companies,” said Alexander Damjonovic, a member of Parliament for the opposition Socialist People’s Party of Montenegro (SNP). “They are investing money in the capital markets. They are buying real estate.”

How the family accumulated its wealth is not clear. Critics say the Djukanovics made a series of lucrative business deals, and that the prime minister has been involved in repeated conflicts of interests.

Jump to full article »

• The Montenegro Connection 

“My little cat … I’m going crazy without you …. You have repeatedly betrayed me, I think …. Little cat, when are you coming? ... I love you, little cat.” On Jan. 4, 2001, Dusanka Pesic Jeknic, representative of the Montenegrin trade mission in Milan, Italy, was speaking on the phone at her home in the southwest of the city. Milo Djukanovic, at that time president of Montenegro, was calling from the capital Podgorica. Billions of people around the world had just hailed the New Millennium. Dusanka, nicknamed “Duska,” the beautiful 41-year-old widow of the late foreign minister of Montenegro, was alone, far from her country. And she spoke out freely about everything: love, tobacco, and crime.

Eight years after Jeknic’s loving conversation with her president, transcripts of her phone calls, wiretapped by the Italian police for 20 months, are attached to hundreds of thousands of court records filed by the prosecutor’s office in Bari, in southern Italy. Here, in the Apulia region’s capital, facing Montenegro across the Adriatic Sea, prosecutors Giuseppe Scelsi and Eugenia Pontassuglia have at last wrapped up their long-running investigation of Djukanovic, Jeknic, and six other Montenegrins and Serbs, as well as seven Italians allegedly tied to organized crime. Their indictment charged the group with, among other offenses, mafia association aimed at illicit trafficking of tobacco, a serious crime in Italy. The indictment and an accompanying 409-page report by Italy’s anti-mafia unit, the DIA, which have not before been made public, provide an extraordinary look inside what may be one of Europe’s biggest smuggling operations in recent years — a tale of corruption, murdered witnesses, and a billion dollars in money laundered through Swiss banks.

From 1994 to 2002, smugglers shipped up to one billion cigarettes a month from the Montenegrin port of Bar to the Italian city of Bari and nearby. . . .

At the center of this case is a hidden bit of history, say prosecutors, of how tobacco smuggling became a state enterprise in Montenegro . . .

Djukanovic is now prime minister of that “Tortuga.” Re-elected in March, he leads a country where for nearly 17 of the past 18 years he has served as either prime minister or president. And he is pushing hard for Montenegro to join the European Union, which is now considering the country’s membership. To that end Djukanovic counts on his main supporter, Italy’s premier Silvio Berlusconi, who in March lauded him during a state-visit in Podgorica. . . .

Affiliated with Serbia until 2006, Montenegro is now fully independent, but some EU nations, notably Belgium and Germany, remain skeptical that the country is ready to join the West. Djukanovic has said that the smuggling is a thing of the past . . .

Starting June 3, Bari Judge Rosa Calia Di Pinto will hold a preliminary hearing to decide whether or not the evidence gathered by prosecutors is enough to put the indicted on trial. The judge will hear a story of a “mafia war” stretching into 10 countries: not only Italy and Montenegro, but also Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Germany, Switzerland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Liechtenstein, Aruba, and the United States. So far, two key witnesses and five others mentioned in the case have been murdered.

Jump to full article »

• Scandal Overseas: Sex, Lies and Cigarette Smuggling  

Sex, lies, the Italian mafia, millions of packs of Marlboro cigarettes, and billion-dollar profits are all rolled into the plot of one of Europe's largest smuggling operations in recent years, where trials in both Italy and Switzerland are under way. At the center of it all: the head of state for one of Europe's smallest but most beautiful countries, the coastal nation of Montenegro, the backdrop to the 2006 James Bond film, "Casino Royale."

Based on hundreds of pages of wiretap transcripts, law enforcement reports, and indictments, the scandal sounds like a screenplay. Between 1994 and 2002 tobacco smuggling became a state enterprise of Montenegro, allegedly controlled by Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic and an inner circle of Montenegrin officials, according to newly released Italian court records obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), a project of the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C. . . .

The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, has been very supportive of Djukanovic.

"We value our relationship with Montenegro and consider the second newest country in the world a close friend and ally," a state department official told ABC News. "We have excellent relations with the government of Montenegro, including Prime Minister Djukanovic."

Jump to full article »

• PM's testimony on smuggling and mafia links 'shameful' say opposition leaders 

The testimony by Montenegro's prime minister Milo Djukanovic (photo) on cigarette smuggling before Italian prosecutors in the southern Italian city of Bari was a shame for the country, opposition leaders said on Monday.

Djukanovic, who has been considered the absolute political leader of Montenegro for the past eighteen years, surprisingly appeared before Bari prosecutors last Friday, answering their questions for more than six hours. . . .

Djukanovic is being investigated for a multimillion-dollar cigarette smuggling operation to Italy and for offering free access and shelter to Italian mafia members in Montenegro ports between 1994 and 2002.

He has repeatedly denied the charges and the rumours that he was being investigated. . . .

Nebojsa Medojevic, the leader of the main opposition party, the Movement for Changes, said Djukanovic had shamed Montenegro by refusing to answer all of the 80 questions put by Bari prosecutors, invoking diplomatic immunity.

Jump to full article »

Montenegro: Labour and Law Agency takes Tobacco Pogorica to court 

The agency for protection of workers' rights, Labour and Law (Rad i pravo) has announced instigation of legal proceedings against the Director of the Tobacco Company Pogorica (DKP) because he failed to implement the court decisions on payment of wages.The director of the agency, Radoje Lakusic, said that the wages of the workers had been unilaterally and illegally reduced, which is why the company's debt per worker amounted to EUR 2,000.

Jump to full article »

Montenegro Votes, With Post-Serbia Path Unclear  

Montenegrins vote in parliamentary elections on Sunday and few have any doubts who will be the winner. For 15 years, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, the longest-serving political leader in the Balkans, has dominated Montenegrin politics and is likely to continue to do so after the votes are counted late Sunday night. . . .

Montenegro’s involvement in organized crime has earned it one of the worst reputations in the Balkans.

Mr. Djukanovic’s government has long been at the center of corruption allegations, and it was named in a European lawsuit against American tobacco makers alleging collusion in cigarette smuggling.

Philip Morris agreed to pay $ 1.25 billion over 12 years in an out-of-court settlement with the European Union in July 2004, with the money earmarked for helping to crack down on the smuggling.

Mr. Djukanovic himself faces an arrest warrant in Italy, brought by a court there in 2004 in connection with the smuggling. He dismisses the charges as politically motivated.

Jump to full article »

40% of Cigarettes in Macedonia Smuggled 

t. Smuggled cigarettes occupy 25% to 80% share from the markets of Southeastern European states, and 40% of the cigarettes at the Macedonian market had been imported illegally, a publication in today’s Romanian Gandul newspaper reads. According to the edition, Albania ranks first in smuggled cigarettes with a share of 80%, followed by Bosnia and Herzegovina with 47%, Macedonia – 40%, Bulgaria – 38%, Serbia and Montenegro – 37%, and Romania and Croatia – 24%.

Jump to full article »

Cigarette smuggling and contraband brought about the arrest of a successful businessman in Durres 

      Tirana, September 10 2005 – One of Durres' most successful businessmen, (the main port of the country) was arrested this last Friday under charges of being part of an international organized crime for tobacco’s smuggling in the country.

“Leonard Koka was arrested based on testimonies which proved he was head of an organized tobacco contraband smuggling from Montenegro to Albania”, chief prosecutor of Tirana Penal Court said. This arrest has been consideredThis was one of the most famous arrest even in Albania.

Koka, age 39, is also the brother of the mayor of Durrës, Mr. Lefter Koka, and considered by many a close friend of the ex-Prime Minister Fatos Nano.

Jump to full article »

• A Non-Smokers’ Paradise? 

PODGORICA, Serbia and Montenegro--The inhabitants of the tiny Adriatic republic of Montenegro are not particularly well-known for a healthy lifestyle. But on 10 February, the country, which is thought to have one of Europe’s highest smoking rates, introduced tough anti-smoking legislation that puts it at the forefront of European anti-smoking efforts.

The new law bans smoking in almost all public locations . . .

Where smoking isn’t outright forbidden, businesses and public institutions are obliged to create separate smoking sections, and non-smoking signs must be prominently displayed. No longer will anyone under 18 be allowed to buy cigarettes.

The ministry of health said the measures, which were based on “modern solutions,” had been introduced in order to protect the public health. Health Minister Miodrag Pavlicic issued a stern warning that the ban would be “fully implemented”--not an easy task in a country where rules are regularly flouted and smoking is one of the few pleasures ordinary people can afford.

“If there is no fire there is no good conversation” goes an old Montenegrin saying.

That smoking is considered an essential part of everyday life in Montenegro (as elsewhere in the Balkans) is evident in the figures: around 250,000 of the republic’s 650,000 population are thought to be smokers. . . .

It is unclear quite how 111 inspectors will manage to monitor almost half the Montenegrin population.

Health inspector Bogdan Drobnjak says that, so far, most Montenegrins have respected the law and that they have not had many problems. He declined to say whether anyone had been charged with breaking the law, saying it was too early to say.

Jump to full article »

• Montenegro: Smokers Keep on Puffing Away 

Janko Pekovic, the deputy head of a secondary school in Montenegro’s capital, Podgorica, tried to persuade two sanitary inspectors that a “no smoking” regulation imposed in Montenegro last August 10 had not been violated when the two inspectors walked into a cloud of smoke in the staff room to find two ashtrays full and a burning cigarette in one of them.

“We had some visitors and we couldn’t tell them not to smoke,” Pekovic told the inspectors.

“Don’t worry, we agreed this morning that a vacant classroom will be used as a smoking room from now on,” he added.

The two inspectors, Kemal Grbovic and Bogdan Drobnjak, have the unenviable task of enforcing the no smoking regulation all by themselves.

So far, they have got no further than Podgorica, as the health inspection service does not have enough money for them to extend their supervision to other parts of Montenegro.

Jump to full article »

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO: Rigorous Fines for Smoking in Public Places? 

If the Montenegrin Parliament adopts the law about limiting the use of tobacco products, smokers in that republic will be thrown into a regime of isolation.

A special smoking area will be designated for smokers. If anyone dares to light-up in a public place, he/she will have to pay a fine of 25. Newspapers and other media, according to the law regulation, won't be allowed to publish photographs, nor cartoons of persons who are smoking.

Jump to full article »

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO: Montenegrin Parliament Bans Smoking in Public 

The parliament in Montenegro, which has one of the highest rates of smoking in Europe, has passed a law banning smoking in public places. The new law also forbids tobacco advertising and the portrayal of smoking on television.

Montenegro is one of the last places one would expect to find a smoking ban. Together with its partner Serbia in the union of Serbia and Montenegro, it has the third highest rate of smoking in Europe, beaten by Turkey and Greece.

Jump to full article »

Montenegro - no to smoking, yes to cigarette smuggling 

The Milan Corriere della Sera daily assessed on Thursday that the decision of Montenegrin parliament to ban smoking in public places was "surrealistic" and "perfidiously calculated" - given that it was made at the proposal of the government of Milo Djukanovic who - as it is said - is (or was) thought to be one of the most successful cigarette smugglers in the Balkans.

Jump to full article »

• Montenegro bans smoking in public 

The parliament in Montenegro, which has one of the highest rates of smoking in Europe, has passed a law banning smoking in public places.

The new law also forbids tobacco advertising and the portrayal of smoking on television.

Montenegro is one of the last places one would expect to find a smoking ban.

Together with its partner Serbia in the union of Serbia and Montenegro, it has the third highest rate of smoking in Europe, beaten by Turkey and Greece.

Jump to full article »