Dragana Sotirovski arrested: Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement

It is assumed that the former mayor of Niš arrived from Greece, where, according to unofficial information, she owns a house.

As a reminder, in the continuation of the anti-corruption operation, members of the UKP, on the order of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Niš, arrested this morning Zoran Stanojević, owner of Sim puk construction from Malošište, as well as Damir and Dejan Nikolić, owners of the company Vodomonteri Lalinac, who are suspected of having damaged the city's budget by several million euros with Dragana Sotirovski.

Namely, they are suspected of helping her by carrying out work on the waterworks as urgent and multiplying the prices of the work in agreement with Sotirovski.

"Zoran Stanojević, Damir Nikolić and Dejan Nikolić are suspected of having directly negotiated a price with the suspect Sotirovski, which was several times higher than the market price, as contractors, outside of public procurement," explains the Kurir interlocutor.

By the way, as we have learned, the arrested Damir Nikolić was brought to the UKP in Niš for questioning.

Earlier today, the police confiscated his and his brother Dejan's cars, a "Ford Raptor F150" jeep, as well as a "VW" car.

MIA spoke up

The Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a statement regarding the arrests in Niš. We transmit their announcement in full.

"Members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Department for Combating Corruption of the Criminal Police Administration, in cooperation with the Special Department for Suppression of Corruption of the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Niš, arrested four people due to the existence of grounds for suspicion that they committed the criminal offense of abuse of official position.

D. S. (1973), the former mayor of the city of Niš and the former commander of the Emergency Situations Headquarters of the City of Niš, D. N. (1981), the responsible person of the entrepreneurial activity 'D. N. PR shop for installation works Vodomonteri' from Lalinac, D. N. (1983) authorized person for representation 'D. N. PR shop for installation works Vodomonteri' and Z. S. (1960), responsible person of the company 'Sim puk gradnja' doo Malošište.

As it is suspected, D.S. by using her official position in the period from March 16, 2022 to July 9, 2024, contrary to the provisions of the Law on Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management, the Decision on the Organization and Functioning of Civil Protection in the Territory of the City of Niš, as well as the Rules of Procedure of the Emergency Situations Headquarters of the City of Niš, engaged the entrepreneurial business 'D. N. PR shop for installation works Vodomonteri' and the business company 'Sim puk gradnja' doo Malošište for the execution of various construction works in the territory of the City of Niš.

D.S., as it is suspected, engaged the aforementioned companies by applying the provisions of the Law on Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Management and other regulations under this Law, and not by applying the Law on Public Procurement, although in the aforementioned situations it was not about emergency situations, but about investment maintenance, then the expansion of the water supply and sewerage network, the construction of a new sewerage network for used water and the construction of a support structure.

It is suspected that the aforementioned subjects who were hired, based on the offers they gave and which are significantly higher than the market values ​​previously given in the preliminary measurements and estimates prepared by PUC 'Naissus' Nis, provided temporary and final situations to the City of Nis, at increased prices.

In this way, as it is suspected, the aforementioned entities obtained illegal property benefits in the amount of 460,322,637 dinars, to the detriment of the City of Niš.

During the search, 11 vehicles were seized, as well as a large number of other vehicles, trucks and work machines.

The suspects were detained for up to 48 hours and they will be brought to the competent prosecutor's office with a criminal report.

Police officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs - Anti-corruption Department of the Criminal Police Administration will continue their work to combat corruption on the territory of the Republic of Serbia."