18 December 2018 - The first meeting of the newly formed Montenegrin Water Management Commission for Cooperation with Albania was held today in Podgorica. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović attended the meeting.
The establishment of bilateral water management commissions is an obligation by the Framework Agreement on Water Management between Montenegro and Albania signed at the joint session of the governments of Montenegro and Albania, held on 3 July 2018 in Shkodër.
The Water Management Commission is a technical body that will work on the analysis and proposal of the best possible solutions for the improvement of cross-border management of surface and groundwater between Montenegro and Albania.
The primary goal is to preserve cross-border water resources, harmonise with EU standards, implement the Water Convention, and develop the best management model through dialogue based on arguments obtained through scientific and professional analysis of the current situation and future scenarios of planned development.
In the past period, cross-border projects have been prepared through the instruments of support of the Global EnvironmentFund (GEF), GIZ, the World Bank, the European Union, as well as national institutions – Montenegrin Academy of Sciences and Arts (CANU), Directorate for Waters and Hydrometeorological Institute.
The newly formed Montenegrin Water Management Commission will work together with colleagues from the Albanian Water Management Commission to analyze the results so far and to propose common solutions. As it was concluded today, the Montenegrin side will initiate a joint meeting of the two countries' commissions as soon as possible, to intensify work on resolving common issues of interest to the two countries.
The issues of significant importance for Montenegro, such as the functioning of the hydropower plant on Drim, the embankments on Bojana, the river Grnčar, as well as the ongoing issues on the potential construction of buildings on Cijevna in Albania, will be opened and discussed in order to establish mutual interest, preservation and sustainable use of water resources.
Today's session, in addition to the members of the Commission, was attended by State Secretary of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism Saša Radulović and Director General of the Directorate for Environment Ivana Vojinović.
The members of the Water Management Commission of Montenegro are Momčilo Blagojević, General Manager of the Directorate for Water Management at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development - President of the Commission; Damir Gutić, Director of Directorate for Water Management; Mićko Radulović, Faculty of Civil Engineering; Goran Sekulić, Faculty of Civil Engineering; Mihailo Burić, Faculty of Philosophy; Radovan Đurović, Faculty of Civil Engineering; Darko Novaković, Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology; Miodrag Radunović, Head of Legal Department at the Ministry of Agriculture; Enis Đokaj from the Ministry of Agriculture, Secretary of the Commission.
