The institute was abolished, the salary remained: How did Serbian minister Snezhana Paunović pocket 146 thousand euros?

Snezhana Paunović, who in 2025 became part of the Serbian Government, for more than a decade received dual income from the state — as a legislator and as the head of a pharmaceutical entity in Peja, Kosovo.

What makes the case problematic is the fact that the Peja Pharmaceutical Institute, which she headed, was legally closed by a government act in 2021.

Paunović herself signed the request to remove this entity from the official registers, according to materials reviewed by Radio Free Europe.

Despite this, her payment as director was not halted, continuing even after the institution had ceased to exist.

Over the 11 years she held this position, she benefited from a sum of around 146 thousand euros from the Serbian state coffers.