Montenegro’s Finance Minister Novica Vuković told the country’s Parliament that the Ministry of Finance will demand full budgetary and institutional accountability from the Health Insurance Fund, stressing the need for a clear definition of how the healthcare financing system operates.
Speaking about the Board of Directors’ initiative to remove Health Fund Director Vuk Kadić, Vuković emphasized that the Ministry had already provided guidelines and procedures several months ago for how the institution should operate.
“With regard to the Health Fund, we shouldn’t have waited until a red line was crossed. The Ministry of Finance has for months provided procedures and instructions on what needs to be done. We are particularly interested in how the triangle—or rather quadrilateral—between the Health Fund, healthcare institutions, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Finance functions,” Vuković said.
He stressed that the goal is to establish a “symbiosis” between institutions to ensure that budget spending is transparent and properly controlled, especially given the increasing investment in healthcare.
“We are seeing a growing trend in healthcare investments, from expanding the list of medicines to monitoring European directives. The government reacts in real time when discussions arise about releasing new medicines, but it is crucial that procedures between the Fund and healthcare institutions are clear and efficient,” he added.
Vuković also recalled a 2023 case when, following the pandemic, the state purchased Pfizer vaccines worth 1.5 million euros that were ultimately never collected.
