The CattaroSail project realization begins, as announced by the NGO "Caliphate Workshop Bokovac" in Bar. Activities of this project will include training of young sailors in Kotor, organizing the special event "Days of Sailing" and regatta on traditional wooden sailboats.

The activities of the CattaroSail project, implemented in the municipality of Kotor, are supported under the Regional Local Democracy Program in the Western Balkans (ReLOaD). The project is being implemented by the Caliphate Workshop Bokovac in Bar, in cooperation with the NGO Camellia (Kamelija, Stoliv) from Kotor and the sailing club "Lahor" from Kotor.

The CattaroSail project will take ten months to complete. In the first month, promotional activities will be implemented at the traditional Kotor manifestation "Bokeška noć” – Bokelian Night.

The theoretical and practical training of young people in sailing on traditional wooden boats will be realized after the promotional activities.

In the first part of 2020, a study on sailing will be made. The content of the study will include the culture of sailing in Montenegro, the importance of sailing for Boka Kotorska as well as the history of sailing in Montenegro.

An event called "Sailing Days" is planned to be held during one weekend in the last month of the project.

The event will be designed to host a cultural and entertainment programme on Saturday and a regatta on Sunday. A special segment of the programme will focus on the connection between the culture of Boka Kotorska and the Croatian coast, above all the connection of wooden shipbuilding in Croatia and Boka Kotorska, it has been concluded from the NGO.

The ReLOaD programme is funded by the European Union and implemented by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). In Montenegro, the ReLOaD programme is implemented in partnership with the municipalities of Kotor, Tivat, Niksic, Pljevlja and Podgorica.

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.

Read more news about business in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

08 August 2019 - The summer tourist season in northern Montenegro is in full swing and the capacities of the ski centers have been active since June. Cable cars on Savin kuk on Durmitor has been functioning since 1 June and the one in Kolašin 1600 was officially open on 6 July.

CEO assistant of the Ski Centers of MontenegroNeda Bokan said that six-seat cable car at Kolašin 1600 ski resort is available for use every day. Tourists can enjoy breathtaking panoramic views of extraordinary Montenegrin mountains. The starting point is at 1.600 meters.

“The panoramic cable car ride enables tourists to enjoy our beautiful Bjelasica mountain. From the exit point, this pastoral mountain invites nature lovers for an easy hike towards the peak Troglav (2.075 m). The view from here is amazing, as tourists can see Prokletije, Komovi, Sinjajevina, and Moračke planine,” pointed out Bokan.

And for more active visitors, there’s a tour around the trails of Bjelasica. From Troglav, they can head towards Zekova glava. From the top of Zekova glava tourists can enjoy a prolonged stop at a nearby glacial lake – Pešića lake. Then, they can continue towards the highest peak – Crna glava (2.139m).

“Also, Kolašin 1600 ski resort has a coffee shop and a five-star restaurant. There’s a new playground - Bambi,” Bokan added.

Durmitor also has a lot to offer this summer. There are two cable cars on Savik kuk. They connect the bottom and the top of Savin kuk. The cable car fun finishes near Savina voda.

“The Savina voda source is an attraction. It is located at an altitude of 2.212 m and it never dries out. The legend says that the water in Savina voda has healing properties. From Savina voda, visitors usually hike to reach the main peak – Savin kuk (2.313m). There they can enjoy all the beauties of the National park using two telescopes for panoramic sightseeing,” stated Bokan, as CdM reported.

Ski resort Savik kuk complex also has a coffee bar, a restaurant – Durmitorsko sijelo, a playground and adventure park.

Panoramic cable car sightseeing of Bjelasica at Kolašin 1600 ski resort costs 7 EUR for the adults, 4 EUR for children and 5 EUR for groups. At Savin kuk ski resort adults will pay 8 EUR, children will pay 5 EUR and group visitors will pay 6 EUR.

“By 1 September, season ski pass at Kolašin 1600 ski resort will cost 150 euros. With ski pass, tourists get gratis vouchers for three-day skiing at Olympic Center Jahorina and three-day skiing at one of the Serbian resorts,” concluded Bokan.

Read more news about traveling through Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

Tivat Utility Company continues to make efforts to increase the percentage of recycled or re-used waste, relative to the total waste collected in the smallest Boka town. Last year as much as 1,062 tonnes of waste of all types were recycled.

Tivat is one of the rare municipalities in Montenegro to carry out both primary and secondary sorting of waste. On a primary level, the company itself provides for separate collection of certain recyclable materials, such as PET, cardboard, metal packaging, tyres and scrap metal. Last year, 273.43 tonnes of cardboard was collected and recycled,1.82 percent higher than 2017, thanks to special bins placed in many areas of the town, and regular collections from the biggest commercial producers of this waste.

The amount of plastic collected by Tivat utilities last year was 23.78 tonnes, up by 14.55%, with 320 kilogrammes of aluminium cans also collected, equalling the figure for 2017. Half a tonne of tyres was collected, up two thirds on the previous year while, primarily due to the very strong competition posed by the numerous Roma who trade in scrap metal in the area, the amount of recyclable metal waste collected, which totaled 3.3 tonnes in 2018, decreased by almost 40%. All the separately collected recyclable waste is sold by the Tivat Utility Company to official companies from Nikšić and Herceg Novi for collection and processing. Improvements are ongoing to the network for collection of selected waste and last year, besides the pre-existing recycling bins, 6 new metal recycling cages of one to three cubic metres were installed for cardboard, as well as 5 for PET, of one cubic metre each. Tivat utilities also collected 400 cubic metres of bulky waste last year, with almost the whole amount re-used by the utility workers themselves, either for furniture, heating or as heat insulation for old buildings. In addition to this material, the Tivat Utility Company collected and disposed of a total of 8,628 tonnes of solid municipal waste, 3.36% higher than last year.

The secondary sorting stage last year ensured recycling of around 4% of municipal waste, in total around 630 tonnes of plastic, metal, nylon, glass, cardboard and PET. This stage takes place at a transshipment station belonging to Kotor Utility Company with which Tivat has had a contract since 2013. At the same time, 1,441 cubic metres or 432 tonnes of green waste from Tivat were composted last year at a composter in Kavač, belonging to Kotor Utility Company. Otherwise, besides this solid and individually collected recyclable waste, Tivat Utility Company collected and correctly disposed of 9,566 cubic metres of green and 1,904 cubic metres of construction waste into prescribed landfills.

Lustica Development AD Tivat is launching a new cycle of hiring and job creation as a result of the introduction of new and strengthening existing sectors in the company that is developing a $1.1 billion worth project Lustica Bay.

After the first employment fair in March this year, with the growth of the project for the development of a new city in the Adriatic, an opportunity was created for the recruitment of new staff, in seasonal and permanent positions.

Lustica Development is currently looking for 15 new positions in almost all business segments: Project and Design Managers, Lawyers, Marketing Managers in the Real Estate and Destination Management Sectors, then Sales Agents, Technicians, and Maintenance Staff, Accounting Chief and Junior Accountant, Chefs and Staff in the food and beverage sector.

Since its founding, the company has seen a significant increase in job creation, especially during the previous year, when Chedi Hotel was opened as part of Lustica Bay, as the first five-star luxury hotel on Lustica Peninsula and one of the largest in Boka. The marina for receiving vessels up to 45 meters in length and a chain of retail outlets along the promenade in the new marina settlement should also be mentioned. The dynamics of the planned development of the company have created hundreds of new jobs - within the direct business of the company, in the newly opened hotel, marina, retail and in the part of providers of various services and business of subcontractors, as stated from the company.

Anyone interested can get more information at the official lusticabay.com/careers website where new job openings are continuously being advertised.

Lustica Development on the Tivat part of the Lustica peninsula is developing a project for the integrated tourist destination Lustica Bay, which involves the construction of seven hotels, two marinas, an 18-hole championship golf course, apartments, villas, and single-family homes, as well as all necessary amenities for the life of the city. It is the largest project in tourism of Montenegro and construction of residential communities.

The water reservoir in the Tivat settlement Gradiošnica, for which the Government of Montenegro has allocated close to EUR 547 thousand, was supposed to be built a month ago, but construction is delayed. It will be completed by the end of September, according to the Public Works Administration.

"The dynamics, which was originally scheduled to complete the works by the end of August, has somewhat been slowed down by the resolution of construction material disposal during excavation and by severe weather, which has recently caused the collapse of concrete structures," the statement said.

The contractor, the Bauer Company, is currently performing reinforcement work and preparing for the erection of the concrete structure, while all earthworks have been completed.

"The connection of this facility to the water supply network will significantly resolve the issue of water supply to all the areas from Župa to the airport, that is Gradiošnica, Vrijes, Dumidran, Mrčevac, Brdišta, Solila, as well as the area of ​​St. Mark’s. In addition to providing locals with quality and continuous supply, water will flow from the reservoir to the location where the golf course is planned to be built," the administration added.

The tank is 2,000 cubic meters in volume and will be filled from the regional water supply system.

07 August 2019 - The total assets of the Montenegrin banking system, which currently has 13 banks active at the end of June, amounted to 4,3 billion EUR, which is a growth by 317 million or almost 8 per cent from the same period last year.

According to the information available to the Investitor portal, all banks have recorded an increase in assets over the past 12 months, except Prva Banka and Addiko Bank.

The largest bank by assets remained CKB, with assets worth 760 million EUR. That's 98 million euros more than a year ago, or growth of 14,9 per cent. CKB operates within the Hungarian OTP Group, as well as Podgorička Bank. The two banks have assets worth a total of 1,3 billion EUR and cover almost a third of the total sector by this parameter.

The assets of Podgorička Bank stood at 548 million EUR at the end of the first half of the year, which is a growth of 6,1 per cent compared to the previous year. By that criterion, Podgorička Bank ranks third, and is placed just behind Erste Bank, which between June 2 managed to increase its assets by 13,4 per cent to 569,3 million EUR.

The following is a ranking of banks by asset value at the end of H1 2019:

1. CKB (760 million)
2. Erste (569,3 million)
3. Podgorička Bank (548,1 million)
4. NLB (511,1 million)
5. Hipotekarna Bank (503,7 million)
6. Prva Bank (374,8 million)
7. Universal Capital Bank (294 million)
8. Addiko Bank (232,3 million)
9. Lovćen Bank (180,2 million)
10. Komercijalna Bank (141,4 million)
11. Zapad Bank (90,1 million)
12. Ziraat Bank (79,8 million)
13. Nova Bank (23 million)

Banks' assets include funds placed on the equity market. The assets of the bank are represented by loans offered by the bank, as well as the required reserves that guarantee the repayment of deposits from the bank's clients.

Read more about the business environment in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

07 August 2019 - The International Summer Archaeological School for Children - Arheolab, launched its activities on August 1 in the Budva City Park, and will last until August 23, reports Culture Corner.

The activities of the educational project Arheolab will be held every day, except Sunday, from 09.30 am to 01.30 pm.

The school is run by Asja Zec, a graduate archaeologist from Padua (Italy). The school is traditionally organized by the Public Institution Museums and Galleries of Budva for the sixth consecutive year.

At this Summer Archaeological School for Children, students have the opportunity to get in touch with archaeological research in a simple and interesting way. They participate in the simulation of archaeological excavation, more precisely, in a wooden box filled with layers of soil they will be able to find objects that correspond to certain periods of time, all to gain knowledge and insight into the formation of historical layers through time, which archaeologists then decipher.

Simply put, the goal is to make children aware that beneath the surface of the earth there is a whole world just waiting to be discovered, and that archaeological finds are not only found in archaeological excavations in far exotic countries, but that they can also be found below the path by which we walk every day.

Unlike in previous years, in addition to the findings, tombs from the Iron and Roman periods will be excavated this year.

The school is intended for children from 5 to 13 years old. Partners of the International Summer Archaeological School Arheolab are the Public Company for Coastal Zone Management Morsko dobro and the Tourism Organization of Budva Municipality.

Read more about lifestyle in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

07 August 2019 - Agency for the Control and Assurance of Quality of Higher Education received a total of 27 requests for the accreditation of new studying programs last year and in the first quarter of this year.

The Report on the work of this authority states that the accreditation procedure is carried out for the assessment of a study program quality and its harmonization with professional needs and adopted standards, its comparability with the same or similar programs abroad, as well as its representation and credit rating.

“Accreditation of studying program is issued for a period not longer than five years. For the programs which take longer than five years, the accreditation is issued for a period equal to the duration of a studying program,” reads the document adopted by the Government, as CdM reports.

However, the Agency has not given its opinion on the accreditation of new studying programs submitted by the Faculty of Business Management in Bar. Also, the Agency has not responded to the requests submitted by the Faculty of Design and Multimedia of the University of Donja Gorica or to the Initiative launched by the Faculty of Finance, Banking and Economic Diplomacy. The proposal made by the Faculty of Business Economy in Bar is currently on hold.

On the other side, the request for opening master academic studies submitted by the Faculty of Mediterranean Business Studies in Tivat was granted, along with the request for opening doctoral and master academic study program for nautical tourism submitted by University Adriatic and request for opening basic academic study program in tourism submitted by the same university.

The following Faculties have been given green light: Faculty of information system and Technologies at the UDG for doctoral academic program, Faculty of Culture and Tourism at the UDG for post-graduate academic study program for culture and tourism, Faculty of Business Economy Bar at the University Adriatik for undergraduate and master academic studying programs, HEC Faculty which requested opening of applied master studies of international management in hospitality and gastronomy, Faculty of Arts at UDG for doctoral academic studying program for communication and media, Faculty of International Economy, Finance and Business at UDG for master academic study program for information management in healthcare system, Faculty of Tourism, “Montenegro Tourism School” at the Mediteran University for undergraduate academic study program for management in tourism and hospitality, as well as request for master academic study program for international management in tourism and hospitality and doctoral academic study program for management in tourism.

The Agency also approved the request for the master academic study program for European law submitted by the Faculty of Law at the Mediteran University, as well as the request for master academic study program for public management. It approved the request for undergraduate and master academic study program for English language and literature submitted by the Faculty of Foreign Languages at the University of Mediteran and the request for master academic studying program for management in tourism and hospitality submitted by the Faculty of Business and Tourism in Budva.

In 2018, the Agency received nine reaccreditation requests submitted by the high education institutions. Reaccreditation procedure is carried out every five years. It is based on the report on external evaluation of the institution and its studying programs, in compliance with the prescribed standards. Only the reaccreditation request submitted by the Mediteran University has been approved. Other requests are still pending.

Documents adopted by the Government point out that the higher education system in Montenegro consists of 8 institutions – four universities and four independent faculties with a total of 285 study programs. High-education institutions have a total of 44 organization units.

The Report says that preparation activities on defining ranking methodology will begin this year.

The Report says that a base of experts for accreditation/reaccreditation of study programs has been established and formed based on public call for the experts from Montenegro and abroad. The list was compiled for the centralization of data about the experts who are going to be engaged in the accreditation and reaccreditation process. There are 105 experts on the list.

Read more news about lifestyle in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

07 August 2019 - Prime Minister of Montenegro Duško Marković congratulated President of the Municipality Samir Agović, President of the Municipal Assembly Mehmed Adrović, members of the Municipal Assembly and citizens on the Municipality Day of Petnjica - 4 August.

"The progress of the whole society is seen through the quality of life of our citizens. The Government is consistent with this commitment and therefore we continue to invest in the North, in all sectoral policies, especially in tourism and agriculture, as well as the development of overall infrastructure," the Prime Minister's congratulatory message reads.

The message reads that Montenegro invested about 4 million EUR in the reconstruction of the first phase of the Berane - Petnjica road alone, and by the end of the year when the completion of works on the complete road is expected, another 8 million EUR will be invested. Petnjica will be a step away from the motorway, so the benefits of this significant project will be felt by this region as well.

"With such a reinforced and equipped infrastructure, and excellent conditions for the operation of the local government for which the Government has built an administrative facility, I am sure that a successful development stage is expecting one of the youngest Montenegrin municipalities," Prime Minister Duško Marković noted.

Read more news about traveling through Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.