Former Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and former Interior Minister Filip Adžić have been questioned by the Special Police Department (SPO) as part of an investigation into the granting of honorary Montenegrin citizenship to Kosovo businessman Naser Ramaj, Montenegrin newspaper Vijesti reports.
Abazović confirmed that he gave a statement as a citizen about ten days ago but declined to discuss the details of the questioning. Adžić did not respond to the newsroom’s inquiries.
The Special State Prosecutor’s Office (SDT) and the SPO are investigating whether there was an abuse of office when Ramaj was granted honorary citizenship under discretionary powers just before the end of the mandate of Montenegro’s 43rd Government.
Investigators are seeking to determine on the basis of which documentation state officials at the time decided to approve Ramaj’s entry into the Register of Montenegrin Citizens, Vijesti reports.
Received honorary citizenship in two months
Before obtaining a Montenegrin passport, the Ministry of Finance issued a positive opinion on the application, the National Security Agency conducted a favorable security assessment, and then-Prime Minister Abazović proposed that the Ministry of the Interior enter Ramaj into the Register of Citizens.
Ramaj submitted his application on August 28, 2023, invoking Article 12 of the Law on Montenegrin Citizenship. In his request, he stated that he was “a great admirer of Montenegro, which he considers his own country.”
However, according to Vijesti, his companies were not without financial problems at the time. The company “Alart Centar” was on the list of tax debtors, while “Nova Gradnja” had been under account blockade since the summer of 2021 due to a debt of around €500,000.
Despite this, the procedure for granting honorary citizenship was completed in exactly two months, although many applications for regular citizenship remain pending for years because of the complex process.
On October 27, 2023, the Ministry of the Interior issued a decision entering Ramaj into the Register of Montenegrin Citizens.
Government claimed the project was of major importance
The decision first became public after it was published by the Centre for Civic Education (CGO).
Documents show that the Ministry of Finance, just five days after the application was submitted, on September 2, 2023, concluded that the request was justified.
Based on that opinion, on September 14, Abazović proposed to then-Interior Minister Filip Adžić that Ramaj be granted citizenship, explaining that his company was building the multi-million-euro “Porto Budva” complex, which was said to be of major economic importance to Montenegro.
The explanation also stated that Ramaj was a major humanitarian who had participated in numerous charitable initiatives supporting children and socially vulnerable families.
Just four days after the Ministry of the Interior issued Ramaj’s passport, Abazović’s government completed its caretaker mandate.
Later charged with tax evasion
The following summer, the Police Directorate filed criminal charges against Ramaj on suspicion that he had caused €2.2 million in damages to the state.
After being questioned, he was arrested and later released to await trial, with his passport confiscated.
The Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Kotor filed an indictment, which was confirmed by the Basic Court in April 2025. Ramaj, the executive director of his company Valentina Grubović, and the company “Alart Centar Budva” are charged with tax evasion totaling €2,235,000.
According to the indictment, from 2016 to 2023 Ramaj orally instructed that part of the revenue from the sale of apartments and commercial premises in the “Porto Budva” complex not be recorded in the company’s books in order to avoid paying taxes. Prosecutors claim this caused more than €2 million in damage to Montenegro’s state budget.
The criminal proceedings before the Basic Court in Kotor are still ongoing.
Spajić sought revocation of citizenship
Three days after the indictment was confirmed, current Prime Minister Milojko Spajić requested that Interior Minister Danilo Šaranović urgently initiate proceedings to revoke Naser Ramaj’s Montenegrin citizenship.
Spajić stated that there was reasonable suspicion Ramaj had obtained citizenship on the basis of false information and by misleading state authorities regarding his tax obligations.
“I believe the case of Naser Ramaj could harm Montenegro’s vital interests, particularly if it is confirmed that honorary citizenship was granted without adequate verification or on the basis of inaccurate information,” Spajić said at the time.
He added that any finding that honorary citizenship had been granted as a personal favor or without clear criteria would seriously undermine public confidence in the rule of law and create room for clientelism and political corruption.
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