PODGORICA, 28.12.2018. – Opened databases are extremely useful for investigative journalists in every country around the world. They represent a remarkable tool through which journalists and all interested parties can quickly and easily obtain information. Montenegro is a country which strives to become a European Union member. Precisely, during accession negotiation, transparency of government bodies which goes hand in hand with open databases has been emphasized. Every government and municipal bodies are obliged to make data from their jurisdiction available to the public via website. However, a huge amount of documents is still unavailable to the public and those documents are usually classified as “strictly confidential” or “internal documents”.
What every journalist should be aware of is that open databases are an Inexhaustible source of information and that they should use them as often as possible in their work. Namely, every municipality in Montenegro has its own website. On those websites, authorities publish documents such as requests and decisions regarding urbanistic technical conditions for building, various concession contracts, contracts regarding the sale of municipal property, urban development plans, objections to urban development plans, analysis cards, public inquiries plans… Often in this data journalists can find pieces of information about people and events, which can be of public significance is information about the affairs of public officials, which can point to various illegal or corruptive activities. By that open sources can be classified as tools with which journalists and all interested parties can monitor work of public officials and state and municipal institutions.
When it comes to using open databases in Montenegro it’s important to mention the website of the Commission for the capital market (http://scmn.me/me/ ). It is a website where all interested parties can find financial and revisory reports of almost every shareholding society, investment and retirement funds in the country. Montenegrin judiciary website (http://sudovi.me/ ) is another useful source of information, there you can find numerous verdicts from every court of Montenegro. The search for information about business organizations can be done through Central registry of business subjects – CRBS (http://www.pretraga.crps.me:8083/ ). It’s a database where you can find who are the founders, executives and authorized representatives of every company registered in Montenegro. Database of Internal Revenue Service of Montenegro (http://www.poreskauprava.gov.me/uprava ), is an unavoidable tool through which we can get insight into financial reports of companies which are organized as Limited Liability Companies (LLC).
Also, there is the website of Official Gazzete of Montenegro (www.sluzbenilist.me/ ). Search for information regarding real estate is done through the website of Real estate administration of Montenegro (http://www.nekretnine.co.me/me/katastarski_podaci.asp ). It is a website through which you can find information about real estate properties by using the Personal identity number, as well as lot number or through the list of real estate properties. Among the open sources is also Geoportal of Real estate administration of Montenegro (http://www.geoportal.co.me/ ) where you can find the exact location of a specific lot. When it comes to the banking sector of Montenegro, useful information regarding that area can be found on the website of Montenegro Central Bank (http://www.cb-cg.org/ ). That crown financial institution records data about financial and revisory reports of banks and micro financial institutions of the country. Also, on the website of Montenegro Central Bank information and lists of individual and legal entity whose bank accounts have been blocked due to unpaid taxes and other obligations can be found. Aside from domestic open databases investigative journalists and all interested parties can also search foreign open databases for information. Among others, there is a database about international companies (https://opencorporates.com/officers/59870909 ). It is a database which has records about numerous international companies, but it is not complete and there is no information listed about certain companies. For everyday work, journalists need information about who is behind certain web presentations and websites, which can be found out through this web – tool (http://whois.domaintools.com/ ). Also, a good source of information is the social media such as Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ ) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/?lang=en )…
This article has been produced as a part of the project Western Balkan’s Regional Platform for advocating media freedom and journalists’ safety with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia and its authors, and can in no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union.