„PHANTOM“ organizations get MONEY for projects

At the public city competition in Novi Sad, this year’s Youth Capital of Europe, the money for projects in the youth sector was awarded to several organizations that exist only in the Business Registers Agency’s records. They do not have their own websites, profiles on social networks, or indicated activities. There are also many examples in provincial competitions, where money was awarded to the associations established only seven days before the deadline for applications. In the year when it holds the title of the Europe’s youth capital, Novi Sad allocated RSD 20 million for projects of public interest in the youth sector. Individually, about a hundred associations got between RSD 70 and 310,000, says reporter of Radio 021, Gorica Nikolin. „I, as a reporter dealing with local events, have not heard of 50 percent of these organizations,“ she points out. Her research shows that as many as a third of them do not exist except for in the records of the Business Registers Agency. „These are organizations we call phantom organizations because they are non-existent on the internet, in searches. We are not familiar with any of their activities. The message is important – you really do not have to exist to get the money,“ says Nikolin. „If you do not have your own webpage, if you do not have your own website, if you do not have any electronic trace of any of your activities, that means that your capacity should be rated at zero,“ says Dane Pribic of the Center for Democratic Development Europolis.

Izvor: N1

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