Witnesses claim meetings with Simović were business-related and that he paid for the drinks

We met with the now former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Milutin Simović, exclusively for business purposes, and he paid the bills for drinks during those meetings - former Finance Minister Darko Radunović, former mayors of Ulcinj and Kolašin Ljoro Nrekić and Milosav Bulatović, as well as Boris Drašković and Slavko Danilović, stated before the High Court as witnesses.

Simović is accused of using state funds to pay for private expenses.

- I met with Simović at the Hotel Splendid from June 2 to June 4, 2017, regarding the preparation of a fiscal strategy that we were supposed to present the following week - Radunović said.

The meeting took place at Radunović’s initiative. He explained that he came to the meetings from Petrovac, where he had been staying.

Radunović said he does not recall Simović explaining why he was at the Splendid Hotel, nor that he had arrived with his wife, Ljiljana.

The Special State Prosecutor's Office of Montenegro charged Simović with presenting a total of 5,000 euros in private hotel and restaurant expenses incurred between 2017 and 2020 as official expenses in order to have them covered by the ministry he headed.

The trial continues on Wednesday. The proceedings are being conducted by Judge Veljko Radovanović.