08 August 2019 - In 2019, the Government allocated over 22 million EUR in the capital budget for Northern Montenegro for the implementation of projects worth over 150 million EUR, whose implementation will continue in the coming period as their representatives announced, bearing in mind that those are predominantly multi-year projects.
The proposed List of Priority Capital Projects for Financing from the State Capital Budget in 2020, adopted by the Government at its 132nd session held on 1 August 2019, contains only the part of projects, that is, only those projects ranked by the criteria evaluation in accordance with the Decision on preparation of capital budget and determination and evaluation of criteria for selection of capital projects. The Decision establishes the basic and additional conditions that the candidate projects must satisfy in order to be considered for financing from the state capital budget, such as the drafted spatial planning documentation, feasibility study, minimum value depending on the type of project, etc.
The Decision also specifies criteria for project evaluation, such as: solved property-legal relations, drafted main project, provision of other sources of financing, contribution to balanced regional and economic development, contribution to the protection and valorisation of cultural heritage, positive impact on the environment, etc. , based on which projects were evaluated and ranked.
Of the 29 capital projects identified in the List Proposal for Northern Montenegro, multi-year projects with a total estimated value of 91 million EUR are predominantly present, and the projects identified in the Final List will be implemented in the following years.
"We emphasise that the proposal of the List of Priority Projects contains only new projects that will potentially be included in the state capital budget for the first time. Namely, according to the Decision, the List does not contain projects that have already been started, that is, included in the capital budget by the Law on a budget of Montenegro for 2019, bearing in mind that according to the Decision they are considered priority projects and their implementation continues in the next period," stated the representatives of the Government of Montenegro.
In addition, projects regarding Northern Montenegro regulated by a special regulation, that is, projects established by the Law on the Motorway and the Law on the Old Royal Capital, are not subject to evaluation criteria in accordance with the Decision, and they are not included in the proposed List of priority projects. Also, the List does not contain projects financed by EU funds through the pre-accession instrument, bearing in mind that IPA funds are earmarked for the purpose of signing an international financing agreement for specific projects, and are implemented in accordance with international procedures.
In this regard, bearing in mind that the Decision on Capital Budget Preparation and Determination and Evaluation of Criteria for Selection of Capital Projects, in accordance with the Law on Budget and Fiscal Responsibility and Determined Dynamics of State Capital Budget Preparation, has now been applied for the first time in practice, a significant number of candidate projects by state institutions and municipalities, namely 134 projects out of a total of 251 applicants, are projects that have already been identified in the capital budget in 2019 and their implementation continues in the future, while the remaining projects have been evaluated according to precisely defined criteria.
Accordingly, the Law on a budget of Montenegro for 2019, within the capital state budget, allocated funds for the beginning and continuation of development projects, which were not subject to the list of priority projects, but their implementation continues in the following period, in the municipalities: Andrijevica, Bar, Berane, Bijelo Polje, Cetinje, Danilovgrad, Gusinje, Herceg Novi, Kolašin, Kotor, Mojkovac, Nikšic, Petnjica, Plav, Pljevlja, Podgorica, Rožaje, Tivat, Tuzi, Šavnik, Ulcinj, Žabljak.
It is also important to emphasise the presence of a strong investment momentum in some municipalities in North Montenegro, which started and is being implemented in the current year, and which will continue in the coming period, given the developmental, multi-year character of these capital projects.
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