The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Rodoljub Sabic sent a letter to Minister Milan Markovic, the Kraljevo Aid Provision Coordinator of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, and made a total of fifty million dinars available for aid efforts.
The aforementioned funds were not used by the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection even though they were allotted in the state budget.
In this regard, the Commissioner Rodoljub Sabic stated the following:
«The general public is to some extent familiar with the fact that, due to specific circumstances in which the institution I lead is operating, each year we had 'returned' into the state budget a significant, very high percentage of funds that were originally allotted to the Commissioner. The situation is the same this year.
The cutbacks, or the failure to spend the allotted funds, are a consequence of several factors. Firstly, they are the consequence of the desire of my associates and I to utilize the existing funds in a rational manner. Secondly, the Commissioner managed to obtain significant material support from foreign donors for projects and activities year after year. And, thirdly and most importantly, the cutbacks are a consequence of the fact that the Commissioner does not have adequate working premises that suit the needs of the institution, continuously works with a very small number of associates, a number far smaller than what was projected. At this moment, when the Office of the Commissioner has more associates than at the time of its opening, the number is still about 2,5 times smaller than projected.
I am not too happy about the cutbacks, meaning the large amount of unspent funds, because with the funds, assuming that I had an adequate number of associates, a lot more could have been done, especially when it comes to more prompt responding to citizens’ complaints. But, since the situation is what it is, my associates and I would be very satisfied if the unspent funds were to be directed to where they are needed the most, and, at this time, we believe it is the earthquake-struck city of Kraljevo. I asked Minister Markovic to work with the Ministry of Finance in finding a way to direct those funds to Kraljevo as soon as possible.
I would like to appeal to other institutions that might be in a similar situation to do the same as the Commissioner.»
