DPM Marković meets the Prince of Wales: Montenegro and the United Kingdom achieve notable results in joint efforts to combat financial crime

PHOTO GALLERY

Podgorica, Montenegro (18 March 2016) -- Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Ministry of the Interior of Montenegro Duško Marković met earlier today with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales and informed him about the successful cooperation in the field of financial crime established between the institutions of Montenegro and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The two countries have developed excellent, efficient and professional cooperation at the institutional level. By the same token, much better results than predicted by the Memorandum of Understanding and the Operational Protocol to the Memorandum in the fight against organised crime have been achieved. The Memorandum, which was signed by Deputy Prime Minister Marković in London in 2013, includes strengthening cooperation in the area of serious crime, and in particular the common fight against cigarette smuggling. In this area alone, the total of 239 million cigarettes has been seized, thus preventing the loss of United Kingdom’s revenue of £ 73 million.

The United Kingdom has also decided to support the operational structures of Montenegro’s criminal police, through the implementation of grants and training programmes. After the representatives of the Police and Customs Administration presented the examples of good practice, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Prince of Wales, accompanied by the UK Ambassador in Podgorica Ian Whitting, and Directors of the Police and Customs Administration of Montenegro, Slavko Stojanović and Vladan Joković, reviewed the donated equipement and the details of the donation programme. The equipment is worth EUR 75,000, and is designed for mobile tactical teams in combating cigarette smuggling.

The meeting between the Prince of Wales and the Montenegrin delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Duško Marković, was part of the Prince of Wales' official visit to Montenegro on 18 March 2016.