22 July 2019 - In the first quarter of this year, the banking system was stable, solvent, profitable and highly liquid. Both non-performing loans and interest rates continued to decline, according to the Central Bank of Montenegro. Namely, the Central Bank of Montenegro Council passed today the Decision on Amendments to the Decision on Minimum Standards for Liquidity Risk Management in Banks. The Central Bank of Montenegro explained that the proposed amendments to the Decision refer to its further alignment with the relevant EU regulations and guidelines of the European Banking Authority, reported CdM.

“The main novelty refers to the elimination of collateral – even the one categorized as the firs-class – which has been a requirement for loans. This means that if other criteria for approving a loan classified as ‘non-performing’ are met, it must be categorized as non-performing regardless of the type of collateral used for securing it. The proposed amendments ensure that the data on non-performing and restructured loans in the Montenegrin banking system are completely aligned with the data of the EU member states,” it was stated after the meeting of the Central Bank of Montenegro Council.

The Council considered and adopted the Report on Business and the Implementation of Central Bank of Montenegro Policy for May 2019, and it was noted that the activities of the Central Bank in this period were implemented in line with planned obligations defined by the 2019 Central Bank of Montenegro Program of Work.

In addition, the Central Bank of Montenegro has prepared the Information on introduction of instant payments and further development of payment activities in Montenegro, along with a comprehensive description of an intention to additionally modernize Montenegro’s payment system.

At this session, the Council also discussed other relevant issues that fall under its competencies.

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

The traditional Kotor Summer Carnival festivities will be held from 1st to 3rd August 2019. The International Kotor Summer Carnival is one of the oldest traditions in both Kotor, and the whole of Montenegro. The carnival boasts a rich musical programme over three days, with artists from Italy, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Ukraine and Cuba performing alongside carnival groups from Kotor and Montenegro.

Besides the groups listed, representatives of the Board of the Federation of European Carnival Cities (FECC) will attend, together with those representing other European carnival cities.

The International Kotor Summer Carnival is organised by the “Fešta” Association of Kotor and sponsored by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro, Kotor Municipality, the National Tourism Organisation of Montenegro, and Kotor Tourist Organisation (TO Kotor).

Letnji kotorski karneval 2018. foto Boka News

1st August (Thursday)

Carnival Opening Ceremony, Old Town (Stari grad) 9pm.

Concert “Trio Gušt”, Armoury Square (Trg od oružja) 10pm.

Fishing Festival, Muljanska Riva 9.30pm. Organised by Muo Community

2nd August (Friday)

Theme “Best of Carnival” - Call to Carnival (“Veliki Abrum”) and Presentation of International Carnival Groups - Old Town, 9pm.

International Summer Masked Ball. Concert, Group - “Magazin” - Armoury Square, 10pm.

3rd August (Saturday)

18th International Summer Carnival Procession

Main Parade, 9pm

Carnival Night, Group - Cubalcanica, Tri Kvarta - Old Town, 10pm

Carnival Party - Old Town

No border orchestra will perform under conduction of maestro Premil Petrović on July 28 at the Yacht Club Porto Montenegro Pool in Tivat at 21:00 - their Berghaind inspiration, inspired by electronic music, is the last concert of this year's XVIII Don Branko's Days of Music in the framework of the International Festival KotorArt.

No Border Orchestra is a symphony orchestra made up of top western musicians from the Western Balkans. Established in Belgrade and Berlin, as a non-governmental organization with the aim of initiating positive social development through the power of reconciliation and creative cooperation, it grew out of the desire to create a regional cross-border symphony orchestra that provides the highest artistic quality and calls for a new kind of communication. During six years of work, the orchestra performed at the leading festivals of the Balkan region, as well as at Festwochen in Vienna, Kunsten festival des arts in Brussels, Autumn Festival in Paris, Opera in Rotterdam, Marseille, Brussels, Lisbon. Beginning on two bases - music and society, the Orchestra successfully promotes musical excellence and social awareness.

Seeking ways of deconstructing and transforming social community, advocating positive change for society in order to make it more inclusive, intercultural, more open and democratic than it currently is, the Orchestra serves as a platform for overcoming nationalism, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and bloody legacy of the past in the Western Balkans region and wider. In 2018 it started its annual Balkan season by spreading music and messages.

Premil Petrović, the initiator, chief conductor and artistic director of No Border Orchestra, with whom he recorded an album for Universal Music - Deutsche Grammophon in 2015.

He graduated conducting at the Academy of Music Hanns Eisler in Berlin, in the class of prof. Winifred Miller. In 1996 he founded Cinema REX Music Theatre in Belgrade. His repertoire includes the interpretations of old music, opera and symphony of classicism and romance, as well as premieres of contemporary music. He premiered the opera by Isidora Žebeljan, one of the most prominent contemporary Serbian composers. He often leads in experimental music theatres, such as the production of Arnold Schoenberg’s “Pierrot lunaire”, ("Pierrot in the Moonlight") directed by Bruno Labruso, for whose film, under the same name, he recorded the second performance. In 2014, he worked with Brett Bailey on the postcolonial production of Verdi's Macbeth, in the arrangement by Fabrizio Kassol in Capetown, which was then shown at the most important European festivals.

He has conducted at the Vancouver and Philadelphia Opera, Colon Theater in Buenos Aires, then the Philharmonic Orchestra of Capetown, the Oklahoma Philharmonic Orchestra and in numerous European orchestras. He was awarded the Hanns Eisler Award for Contemporary Music Interpretation.

Mediterano will premiere on Wednesday, 24 July at Pecka Beach, Luštica with the support of Luštica Bay. The play was first performed at the Atrium of the Summerhouse Buća in Tivat in 2011, with the late Vlastimir Đuza Stojiljkovic in the role of Priest. The producer, Culture Centre Tivat held a press conference at the Buća Summerhouse today on the occasion of the premiere. Inspired by the eponymous Italian film “Mediterraneo”, the play is directed by Erol Kadić, who made a selection of music, while Dunja Petrović performed dramatization.

For the first time, the Culture Centre comes out ambientally in this show and its partner in this project is "Luštica Development", said the director of the Centre, Neven Staničić.

"We have renewed "Mediterano" and very deliberately decided to make it in natural surroundings, what we talked about to Erol Kadić this winter. The complete show team was very happy to accept the idea, aware of all the risks that it carried with it. We hope that it will pay off, having in mind the interest that this idea it has caused, "Staničić said, hoping to succeed in mastering all artistic and productive difficulties.

He expressed gratitude to Luštica Development Company, because they had expressed their understanding. "What is interesting and significant when it comes to our company and the Cultural Centre and the renowned Purgatorije festival is that our cooperation has been going on a long time, since it is the first festival that we have established cooperation with. Cultural Centre is a renowned institution with an enviable portfolio when it comes to production, said PR Advisor at Luštica Development Company, Dragana Bećirović.

The director of Mediterano, Erol Kadić, said that for the first time in his career he had two conferences on the occasion of the same show.

Talking about the proposed idea of ​​playing on the beach by the sea, he said he accepted it with enthusiasm: "This is very provocative for directing. With a spectacle like Mediterano we will revive a place like this beach is. We could have met enormous production problems there, but when I met the place, I realized that everything I had planned did not work and that we had to go back to the start. The space seemed so provocative and fairytale like. I had to redesign some scenes and to put in some new ones that came out of this ambience, very beautiful and provocative," explained the director, stressing that he was particularly grateful to the Cultural Centre, which provided him with such a rare opportunity to work on this project. Kadić said that this will be a premiere also because from the first performance of the Mediterano, three actors had changed, including the late Djuza Stoiljkovic.

Actor Fedja Stojanovic has a double feeling, first of all a sad experience because he plays instead of an actor who has been his colleague and friend, Djuza Stojiljković. He pointed out that the move made by the Culture Centre was fantastic, because it had brought the show to an incredibly beautiful space. The performance is also linked to the Mediterranean and the sea and it is very good remembering that everything is happening on one coast, which gives a special experience to the whole show, Stojanović said.

The cast is completed by Mladen Nelević, Nenad Ćirić, Tanja Bošković, Goran Slavić, Omar Bajramspahić, Julija Milačić, Stevan Radusinović, Slaviša Grubiša and Emir Ćatović.

After the premiere on Wednesday, July 24, it Mediterano will be played on Thursday and Friday, July 25 and 26 in Luštica Bay, within the International Theatre Festival Purgatorije. The show will begin at 21:30, and the organizer, Culture Centre Tivat, has provided the transport from Tivat, from the old bus station at 20:30.

The latest analysis of seawater done by the Institute for Marine Biology for the needs of Public Company Morsko Dobro, showed that the seawater on the Montenegrin coast is sanitary and qualitative for swimming and recreation.  "The results of the analysis of seawater quality for 100 public baths, which the Institute for Marine Biology conducted in the period from 16 to 17 July showed the sea-water quality of K1 class at 98 bathing places, while two baths are of K2 class. These results confirm that the seawater on the Montenegrin beaches is of excellent quality, that is, it is sanitary correct and safe for bathing and recreation," said the Public Company.

On all 16 baths in the municipality of Ulcinj, the water was of excellent quality K1. Out of 13 locations in the municipality of Bar, where water quality was monitored, 12 of them were of excellent K1 quality, while in one location water was K2 quality.

A similar situation is in the municipality of Budva, where the water quality K1 is on 25 locations, while in one location the water is K2 quality. When it comes to the Bay of Kotor, in Tivat the water was of excellent quality at all 9 bathing areas, and the same situation was in Kotor, where the water quality is K1 class at all 15 sampling locations.

When it comes to water quality on Herceg Novi coast, the analyzes showed excellent quality K1 on all sampling locations, i.e. at a total of 21 beaches.

Text by Vuk Lajovic, on July 22nd, 2019, read more at Vijesti

The program "Creative Montenegro", launched by the Ministry of Culture, gave the first results this year.

At the first competition within the aforementioned program, which will establish the Montenegrin cultural product, as a result of cooperation between the creative sector and the business-commercial, a total of 11 authors are supported. There are 10 projects and products, and one scientific study.

By providing basic conditions and means for work - space, equipment, promotions, etc. we can say with certainty that the Ministry together with the authors successfully launched 10 new businesses in culture, which is why we want to motivate other artists to apply for their future contests with their initiatives and ideas. Bearing in mind the significance of the program "Creative Montenegro", primarily in terms of affirming the authors and the significance of their projects for the creation of the Montenegrin cultural product, the Ministry of Culture will endeavor to present to the public each of them, with the projects which they are authors. The author of one of the 11 ideas supported by the contest "Creative Montenegro" is Nikola Rajovic from Podgorica, who have applied for the project of establishing a music label, which should connect related authors in the field of music production and present them to the global market through popular publishers’ channels. The publishing house, primarily focused on the field of electronic music and related genres, will be named "Beats Per Montenegro" (BPM). According to Nikola Rajovic, BPM deals with the creation, design, and packaging of sound as a product. "During the current phase of this project, we are also working on a compilation called "Beats Per Montenegro ", where we will present the work of various artists who mostly deal with electronic sounds. The key mission is to treat sound like a product and distribute through channels that are today dominant in the world, therefore in digital format," Rajovic pointed out. The key objective is to make BPM be a service for local musicians.

"Beats Per Montenegro" was founded to serve as a service and support to local musicians and producers, and that would help with the bureaucracy itself, to help select some foreign labels and other partners in this context, "Rajovic concluded.

He emphasizes that the program "Creative Montenegro" has been of great use in his ambition to bring the project to life.

Text by CdM, on July 20th, 2019, read more at CdM

Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanovic and US Ambassador to Montenegro Judy Rising Reinke visited today the prehistoric site of Red Rock and on that occasion,  they met with systematic archaeological research currently conducted by experts from the USA and Montenegro.

It is about continuing the study of one of the most important prehistoric dwelling of men in the world, which contributes to a more complete understanding of the way of life and customs of prehistoric communities living in this area.

Bogdanovic and Reinke agreed that the archaeological research of the Red Rock site is one of a large number of successful projects in Montenegro, which is an indicator of good cooperation between the two countries in preserving the Montenegrin cultural heritage.

The project entitled "The Origin of Fire Use" is part of a grant supported by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and the expert team for systematic research of the site is headed by Professor Gilbert Tostevin from the University of Minnesota, while on the Montenegrin side leader of the research is archaeologist Mitar Cerovic, head of the Archeological Museum of the National Museum of Montenegro.

A large number of research specialists from the United States, Canada, Israel, Italy, Spain, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro are working on physical-chemical analyzes, archeology, micro-morphology, sedimentology, archaeomagnetic, C14 dating, crypto tephra, ancient DNA research .

The results of the previous multidisciplinary research provide a complete reconstruction of the life of the Paleolithic man of the Middle Paleolithic period - Mousterian - the time of the Neanderthal culture from 150 000 to 40 000 years BC. In future research, as reported by the expert team, it is expected that Paleolithic cultures of the age of 200 000 years BC will come to life. With modern archaeological and other methodology, they expect that new knowledge will be reached on the world level about this period, and according to them, Red Rock has the possibility for further and new scientific discoveries.

The prehistoric site of the Red Rock was discovered in 1954, when the first systematic archaeological excavations began. Later audit research began in 2004 by the Center for Archaeological Research of Montenegro in cooperation with the University of Michigan, and since last year, the National Museum of Montenegro continued with a multidisciplinary approach. Since 2012, the Ministry of Culture has invested around 270 thousand euros for the needs of archaeological research of the Red Rock site and adaptation of the buildings in the village of Petrovici.

Text by CdM, on July 20th, 2019, read more at CdM

21 July 2019 - Prime Minister Duško Marković opened a new Durmitor spring water factory Diva in Gornja Bukovica near Šavnik.

"Today, we attended the opening of the new factory Diva, worth EUR three million with the new production programme, which will be available not only on the domestic but also on the international market and which employs ten people from Šavnik. I believe that through today's meeting and defined priorities on some major capital projects, Šavnik will continue this pace of development," said Marković on the occasion of the opening of the spring water factory Diva.

The new factory is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment from the German manufacturer Krones, whose bottling capacity is 12,000 bottles per hour. About 3 million EUR were invested in the natural spring water factory, as reported by the Public Relations Service within the Government of Montenegro.

Prime Minister Marković took the opportunity to congratulate President of the Municipality of Šavnik Mijomir Vujačić and its citizens on the Municipality Day, adding that a number of launched activities support the development of the city in order to improve the quality of life of all citizens.

During February 2019 Montenegrin Prime Minister Duško Marković also opened a new factory of carbonated water “Rada“ in Bijelo Polje.

On that occasion, the Prime Minister Duško Marković said that this is a factory that will contribute to the growth of the economy and production and that will substitute the import of carbonated water amounting to nearly 8 million EUR. He added that the saved money will remain in the country's economic system and contribute to the development of a better standard and that the Government is showing that it opens new, high-quality and sustainable jobs and makes the best use of the vast natural potentials.

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

21 July 2019 - Andrija Đukić, a 15-year-old boy from Podgorica, has achieved the objective he set a month ago when he set out on a 900-kilometer and million steps long journey in order to collect money for medical treatment of children in “Be human” foundation, reported CdM.

Andrija got the Compostela, a diploma pilgrims obtain when they reach their objective successfully. This brave boy has walked around 800 kilometers so far. Today he reached Santiago de Compostela in Spain and as his mother Jelena said, tomorrow he will be heading towards Finistera.

The picturesque landscapes of France and Spain featured in “The way” film has inspired Andrija to start the journey of his dreams. On 20 June, together with his mother, Andrija went on a 900 km long journey, within the humanitarian action Million steps, with the aim of helping collect money for the treatment of children in the Be Human foundation.

“I have been thinking a lot about the ways I can help children who need the help most. And I found the answer in “The Way” film. This is the answer. Pilgrims carry this stone on their way. It represents the suffering and sorrow of the one who is carrying it. That is what I am going to do, in Cruise de Fero, the highest point of the journey. Symbolically, I will leave their pain there,” said the boy before he went on to pursue his noble goal.

Sweltering heat and fatigue didn’t prevent Andrija from reaching his objective. His persistence won.

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

According to data on accommodation and excursion tax payments, Kotor this year has been seeing record high numbers of tourist visits.

So far, over 250,000 registered group tourists have visited the town, some 18 percent higher than for the same period last year.

“The number of guests staying in Kotor so far has reached almost 9,700, 3 percent higher than for the same period last year, moreover in June and July there was a significant increase in the number of guests checking in to private accommodation, up as much as 8 percent," stated the Director of Kotor Tourist Organisation, Nives Radović.

The largest proportion of these visitors are tourists from cruise ships, followed by those visiting from Dubrovnik and from other Montenegrin coastal towns.