The statistics show that perpetrators of environmental crime in Montenegro can expect to get away with it.
Maja Boricic
For years, environmental inspectors have been filing criminal complaints against the company Weg Kolektor, the owner of two vast basins of toxic red mud left behind by the aluminium producer Kombinat Aluminijuma Podgorica.
Due to its elevated alkaline content, the landfill is classified as hazardous waste. As sprinkler system used to keep the contents damp hasn’t worked for years, meaning toxic red dust is left to blow over nearby villages.
According to inspectors’ records, obtained by Freedom of Information request, the owner of Weg Kolektor said he cannot afford to provide the water to keep the dust down.
The case has never reached court, with prosecutors blaming the statute of limitations. In January this year, the government announced it would buy back the basins and solve the problem itself.
Similarly, in Pljevlja, inspectors ordered the public heating company Grijanje to halt production in December 2024, until emissions of pollutants including particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and arsenic could be reduced to legal limits.
The deadline for ceasing production was extended, however, despite the fact that 2025 measurements also showed that the pollution was above the legal limit. The boiler plant remains in operation. Prosecutors opened a case but it remains in the preliminary investigation phase.
In February in Podgorica, the demolition of a Yugoslav-era anti-hail rocket factory, built using large quantities of asbestos, was carried out without the necessary safety precautions, according to environmental inspectors.
The site sits near a playground, primary school and two nurseries. Inspectors confirmed the presence of asbestos dust at the site, but the case has yet to advance beyond the preliminary phase.
Perovic, from Ozon, said the judicial system is turning a blind eye to environmental crime and that prison sentences are the only deterrent.
“The absence of serious penalties actually encourages those engaged in environmental crime,” Perovic said.
Dragicevic added: “This practice must come to an end if we genuinely want to confront environmental crime in Montenegro in a serious and systematic manner.”
In September 2025, the Operational Task Force for Combating Environmental Crime was formed within the Supreme State Prosecutor’s Office.
The Task Force said it had improved coordination between institutions and achieved “measurable results”, primarily in cases involving illegal gravel extraction and the removal of two illegally erected floating structures from Lake Skadar.
The Force’s own statistics for the first quarter of 2026 show that proceedings were initiated against 118 individuals, that investigations involving 88 individuals remain at the preliminary inquiry stage, that indictments were filed against 16 individuals, and that no financial investigations were conducted.
However, it also warned of a chronic shortage of inspectors, police officers and technical resources.
The Environmental Protection Agency did not respond to requests for comment.
This article was produced within the framework of MOST – Media Organisations for Stronger Transnational Journalism, a Journalism Partnership funded by the Creative Europe programme that supports independent media specialising in international reporting.
