16 February 2019 - The information on the confirmation of the provision of support for the implementation of public calls within the IPARD II programme 2014-2020 has been approved by the Government of Montenegro. On this occasion, the Government adopted the conclusions concerning the provision of funds for national co-financing of projects under IPARD II Programme. Through the implementation of the IPARD II programme, a total of 51,816,473 euro grant will be available to the Montenegrin farmers, of which the EU funds amount to 39,000,000 euros, and the national co-financing amounts to 12,816,473 euros. The granting of non-refundable support to end-users will be paid according to the defined criteria and will be within the range of 50 to 70%, depending on the type of investment and the geographical location of the holdings and the location of the investment. The goal of the IPARD II programme is the restructuring and modernisation of the agricultural and processing sector, with the aim of creating competitive agricultural holdings and the processing sector, which will be ready for EU accession and the use of EU funds.
The Government also passed the Decision on the distribution of profits and the increase in the share capital of the Limited Liability Company "Montenegrin Electricity Market Operator" - Podgorica and the Decision Amending the Decision on the Establishment of a Limited Liability Company "Montenegrin Electricity Market Operator." These documents determined that the total profit of this company - 561,749.35 euros is allocated in the name of reserves (101,410.48 euros), while the rest of profit (460,338.87 euros) represents an increase in the company's share capital.
On the same occasion, the Information on the implementation of the Action Plan for the implementation of the recommendations of the State Audit Institution at the end of the third quarter of 2018 has been approved and adopted the Action Plan for the implementation of the recommendations of the State Audit Institution. On this occasion, the Government instructed specific budget users to coordinate activities to implement the recommendations and to submit to the Ministry of Finance quarterly reports for all the units they oversee.
The Cabinet within the Government of Montenegro session passed the Information on the activities of the Commission for Missing Persons in 2018, which provides an overview of all activities individually in the previous year. The Commission is seeking 57 Montenegrin citizens and persons whose applicants, at the time they reported their disappearance, were resident in Montenegro, of which 44 persons are being sought on the territory of Kosovo, ten on the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina and three on the territory of Croatia. In cooperation with commissions and other associations in the countries of the region dealing with this issue, the Commission resolved and executed the handover of the remains of 27 persons missing in armed conflicts in the former Yugoslavia in the past period. It was emphasised that the Commission cooperates with relevant ministries, experts and forensics, and relevant international organisations and institutions, as well as with families of the missing, to provide a comprehensive, professional and systematic approach to address this issue.
The Government also passed the Information on signing the Agreement on the recognition of training and certification of sailors for service at ships registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. By signing this document, sailors from Montenegro will be able to be hired on vessels operating under the flag of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Cabinet approved the Report on the Work of the Council for the Protection of Animals for 2018. When presenting the Report, it was pointed out that since the founding of the Council, some significant initiatives have been launched. Among other things, it started with the activities related to the protection of the welfare of dogs and the responsible ownership of their holders, as well as the issue of controlling the abandoned dog population, that is, the stray dogs. It was concluded that the establishment of central dog records, provided through the support of the World Bank, as well as the envisaged funds in the budget for the implementation of measures for identification and registration of dogs, will form the basis for the implementation of legislation and criminal policy in this area and the affirmation of responsible ownership.
