12 December 2018 - Prime Minister Duško Marković said earlier today at the Prime Minister's Questions session at the Parliament of Montenegro that the northern region of Montenegro has been less developed than the other two regions for decades, that this underdevelopment was characterised by a higher unemployment rate, lower incomes and a low rate of economic growth, but that two years of consistent economic policy measures resulted in positive developments in all of these aspects.
"Today we are witnessing new kilometres of modern roads, new ski centres, schools, kindergartens, reconstructed hospitals," said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister pointed out that the Government's commitment to balanced regional development has been confirmed in the past two years through the funds allocated to projects in the northern region within the Capital Budget, but also within sectoral budgets, such as agribusiness or investment budgets of individual ministries.
"When it comes to the budget of the Directorate of Public Works and the Directorate of Transport for the previous two years, more than 81 million EUR were allocated to the projects in the north. Furthermore, significant funds were allocated to the Investment and Development Fund aimed at more dynamic development of less developed municipalities. In 2017 and 2018, this development fund allocated around 70 million EUR to entrepreneurship and growth of business in the municipalities of Andrijevica, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Gusinje, Kolašin, Mojkovac, Petnjica, Plav, Pljevlja, Plužine, Rozaje, Šavnik and Žabljak. These funds created 856 new jobs. In addition, projects in the north are financed through the Regional Housing Programme, the Investment Framework for the Western Balkans, the European Union's IPA funds, and the funds of the European Investment Bank," Prime Minister Duško Marković noted.
The Prime Minister stressed that he is particularly pleased with the investors' positive reactions to the development potentials of the North. "We have recently signed new long-term lease agreements based on which the high-class hotel facilities will be built at the Kolašin 1600 location and at the location of the former military resort in Žabljak. Therefore, at the end of 2017, we established a state-owned ski resort company, based in Mojkovac, in order to improve quality of the existing infrastructure, but also to implement development investment policies more efficiently. An additional impetus to our efforts is the construction of the priority section of the Bar-Boljare motorway, which will connect the northern region with the central and southern ones. The construction of the motorway will be continued with the ultimate goal of connecting with the European Highway Network. By the end of 2019, more than 500 million EUR will be invested in this project," Prime Minister Duško Marković concluded.
