23 June 2019 - Karisma Hotels Adriatic Montenegro, as part of Karisma Hotels & Resorts, recently presented 96 spacious luxury apartments in the new part of the complex Holiday Village Montenegro to the locals and tourists of Ulcinj.

Apart from the apartments, two new swimming pools were presented to the guests, one for adults and one for children, reports Glasnik by Montenegrin Chamber of Economy.

"The new building is very nicely embedded in the existing ambience, thus additionally contributing to the offer of this unique four-star complex," said the management of the hotel group.

Holiday Village Montenegro is located on the Great Beach (Montenegrin: Velika plaža), which is famous for its beauty, medicinal sand, as well as pines, which cover a large of the complex.

"This position and plenty of content make Holiday Village Montenegro a haven for all visitors, whether they are looking for romance, recreation or relaxation. Our friendly staff will ensure that the service exceeds the expectations of all guests," says the announcement of the hotel group management.

Karisma Hotels Adriatic Montenegro occupies, as they stated, a dominant position in the tourist offer of Ulcinj, which was contributed by the first phase of the complex Holiday Village Montenegro. The offer of the first phase includes two gorgeous hotels: Holiday Village Montenegro and The Long Beach Hotel Montenegro.

“With Ulcinj old town where pirates once roamed just 5 km away, miles of beaches to be explored and terrific sights to take in, our guests will surely have an experience like no other in this magical part of the Adriatic coast,” said the Karisma representatives.

This successful group also manages the Wind Rose Resort located in Bar.

The Wind Rose Resort by Karisma, a 21st century 4-star luxury hotel in Dobra Voda, represents one of Montenegro’s most stunning settings. Its great location allows guests to fully experience everything Montenegro has to offer – from ancient Bar, Lake Skadar, Ada Bojana to cosmopolitan Porto Montenegro and the Croatian Riviera. This family-friendly resort provides the highest standards of comfort and unmatched travel experience at a unique location where a myriad of benevolent winds come together.

"Together with its strategic partner TUI, within the last year, Karisma organized over 140 international flights to the airports in Tivat and Podgorica. Numerous awards, among which are those obtained from TripAdvisor and Trivvy, testify to the success of Karisma's offer, "the management said.

Read more about tourism offer of Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

22 June 2019 - Zsuzsanna Hargitai, director for the Western Balkans at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has said that the countries of the region will need almost two hundred years to catch up with the average income level of the EU member states if their progress continues in such a slow pace.

Speaking in an interview with Serbian weekly Business Magazine (Nira Press), the Western Balkans director said that complex business regulations and the state capture of public enterprises were the main reasons why the Western Balkans lag behind, adding that the course, however, could change.

Ms Hargitai emphasized that the less involvement of the state and more investment in infrastructure were the primary tasks of the EBRD when it comes to helping the region.

“This (current state), however, can and should change because the countries of the Western Balkans have well-educated people who can be productive as their peers in Western Europe. Better institutions, less government interference, more investment in infrastructure - these are the most important tasks and the EBRD is there to help in all areas,” Hargitai emphasized.

She also explained that the EBRD representatives would like to see improved preparation and implementation of projects in public infrastructure projects - which would contribute to faster achievement of tangible results in this area.

One year ago, Zsuzsanna Hargitai was appointed as Regional Director for the Western Balkans at the EBRD and in one of her first statements, she announced that she would seek to increase EBRD's investments and support in the field of economic policy on the path of the countries of the Western Balkans towards the European Union. She also stated that the process of EU accession is the main driver of reforms.

Now, a year later, Ms Hargitai says that already in the past year, the volume of EBRD investments has increased to close to 400 million, while at the same time, they continued with activities to improve the policy framework.

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

The municipality of Pluzine and the Nature Park (NP) "Piva" have prepared many musical, cultural, sports events for both the residents and numerous tourists visiting Piva, either because of rafting or because of its natural beauties.

The 27th of June is reserved for Saint Petersburg’s "Embassy of Art", where the audience will be presented laureates of international competitions, Aleksandar Vasiljev, Elisavet Ivanov and Evgenij Saveljev.

The last day in June is reserved for mountain lovers when a climb to Veliki Vito will be organized.

The repertoire in July begins in Pluzine with the "Party bus", within which the bands “Electricni Orgazam”, “Prti Bee Gee” and “Rudolf” will perform in the city amphitheater on the 4th of July. July will also welcome the concert of Sule Jovovic and his quartet, 49th "Poetry at the spring of Piva", as well as the 12th traditional climb to Prutas.

The beginning of August will mark the Day of the Municipality, the 51st traditional tournament in soccer, the sixth "3x3" basketball tournament, various concerts and the sixth painters' colony that will bring together artists from the country and the region. The August repertoire will be concluded with the poetry encounters "Tara without borders", which are held for the 22^nd time at the shore of the river Tara in Scepan polje. 

"During the summer, besides the already mentioned events, we will organize other manifestations and events, which will aim to promote the tradition and culture of the Piva area. We are sure that, besides the numerous natural and cultural values ​​of Piva, this will be another reason to visit Pluzine and Nature Park "Piva" this summer," said the NP.

Text by Svetlana Mandic, on June 21st, 2019, read more at Vijesti

The Municipal Secretariat for Culture and Social Activities will provide a set of textbooks for pupils of the first, second and third grade of the elementary schools in the area of ​​the Tivat Municipality.

Unlike the previous years, when the Tivat Municipality provided support only to pupils in the first year of schooling, the 2019/2020 school year will cover all the children from the first cycle i.e., the first three grades of the elementary school.

"Students belonging to the Roma-Egyptian population will receive free textbooks as support from the relevant ministry, as has been the practice so far," said mayor of Tivat Sinisa Kusovac.

The municipality did not state how much purchasing the free textbooks for another two generations of Tivat pupils will cost.

Kusovac, however, at the last session of the local parliament on Tuesday, in controversy with the opposition delegates, said that 18,000 euros for the then-adopted revision budget, increased the item "other transfers to individuals - pupils and students", and will be aimed at buying textbooks for the first three grades. This money was originally planned for tourist events - like the organization of the second International Summer Carnival in Tivat, but Kusovac diverted it to support the local administration for the parents of the youngest pupils in Tivat.

Thus, in September, half a year before the regular local elections in this town, the Tivat Municipality will give away free textbooks for all the children up to the third grade of the elementary school.

Tivat's local DPS-SD-HGI administration in the previous years was the target of fierce criticism of the opposition that, like some other cities in Montenegro, should provide free textbooks for students of all nine grades of primary school, but its leaders always justified it with the alleged lack of money and claimed that the municipality has only money to buy the books for the first-grade pupils.

Now, in front of the local elections to be held in March 2020, the administration has decided to include another two generations of Tivat pupils in this action, and to facilitate financial burden on their parents.

Text by Sinisa Lukovic, on June 21st, 2019, read more at Vijesti

Last weekend, with the action of cleaning the riverbed and the shore of the Lim river, members of the Sports Club "Lim" continued preparations for the European Championship in fly fishing in Berane.

They believe that it is necessary that as many people as possible take part in the actions, to show that Berane is a good host.

"We managed to clean up around six hundred meters of the coast and basin from the middle of the Harem resort to the main road in the settlement Talum. In this section alone we collected about 40 large bags of rubbish and made several piles of different waste that we will we have to pick up with the help of mechanization," said a member of the SRC "Lim" Bosko Vulevic.

He explained that due to still very high-water levels they did not manage to reach the other bank of the river, but they would do so as soon as the water level drops in that part.

According to him, this track is actually one of the routes that will be used by fishermen from 20 European countries that will participate in fly fishing championship early next month.

"There will be five sessions in Berane, deployed on three racing days, with 20 fishing clubs already signed up, which means that we will have 100 fishermen who will be fishing here. The organizing rules are very strict, so we are expecting a lot of work in the coming days, especially in the preparation of the track," explained the president of the Sports Fishing Club" Lim "Milutin Micovic. A member of the club and champion of Montenegro in the Fly fishing League for 2018, Bojan Pesic, trying to explain the chaotic state of the nature along Lim, says that the main cause is a low level of citizen awareness when it comes to protecting the environment. 

"We are intensively cleansing Lim and the coast, and you would not believe what we've come across and what amount of trash we picked up. Our people simply do not have the awareness that nature should be preserved and that they do not need to throw away garbage wherever they want. For that very reason, in the coming days, all the way to the championship, we will have increased control and every unconscientious citizen will be sanctioned," Pesic said.

The European fly-fishing championship will be held from 1 to 7 July in Berane, Plav and Andrijevica, which will be the first time that Montenegro gets the chance to host the most important fishing contest on the old continent.

Three shares are in Plav, and one in Berane and Andrijevica.

Members of the SRC "Lim" from Berane started the action of cleaning the banks of the river Lim two weeks ago, especially on the route where this prestigious competition will be held, so that both Berane and Montenegro would be presented in the best possible way to the fly fishing lovers coming from well-developed and arranged European states.

Text by Tufik Softic, on June 23rd, 2019, read more at Vijesti

22 June 2019 - The gross domestic product (GDP) of Montenegro in the first quarter of 2019 amounted to 876.5 million EUR and in absolute terms, the value added increased by more than 40 million EUR in relation to the same quarter of the previous year, it was announced by the Statistical Office of Montenegro (MONSTAT ).

Statistical Office of Montenegro - MONSTAT is the competent body for the production of official statistics. MONSTAT's role as the carrier of official statistics in the Montenegrin statistical system has been recognized by the domestic and international public.

The report by MONSTAT presents the results of the preliminary calculation of the quarterly gross domestic product, at current and constant prices, using the consumption method for the first quarter of 2019.

The data shows that real GDP growth in the first quarter was three per cent, while the nominal growth rate was 4,4 per cent.

According to EUROSTAT data, Montenegro is at 47 per cent of the EU's development.

"In the first quarter of this year, the most significant growth was recorded in tourism - 38 percent when it comes to tourist arrivals, and 22 per cent when it comes to tourist overnight stays. On this basis, tourism revenues increased by eight per cent in the first quarter, and according to the Central Bank data, they amounted to 47,3 million EUR. Significant growth was also recorded in the services sector, traffic and information and communication," said Gordana Radojević, director of MONSTAT, for RTCG.

The decline in production was recorded in the industrial production sector by 14%.

The representatives of MONSTAT agency said that the increase in GDP in the first quarter was partly a result of the increased inflow of investments, as well as a better collection of taxes, excise duties and customs duties. It was noted that in the first quarter, the unemployment rate was reduced.

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

June 23, 2019 - Continuing our look at the real estate options in Montenegro through the RE/MAX catalogue, the latest Property of the Week comes from idyllic Lustica Bay.

It is one of the most beautiful parts of the Adriatic coast, and the subject of the largest ever investment in Montenegro, as the Lustica Bay project development looks to redefine luxury tourism in the region. More than a billion euro in investment on 7 million square metres will eventually offer 7 luxury hotels, 2 marinas, an entire village of 2,500 people with accompanying facilities, and a signature 18-hole Gary Player golf course. 

The first phase, including marina and the luxury hotel The Chedi is already open for business. Having been fortunate enough to stay there a couple of times, I can confirm it is one of the most peaceful and relaxing spots on the Adriatic for a holiday home. The facilities of both the The Chedi and the marina promenade offer a variety of shopping and dining experiences, and the essentially car-free neighbourhood only adds to the charm.  

Property ownership on Lustica Bay is a very international affair, with sales at the Centrale village attracting buyers of over 30 countries. The biggest number of buyers came from the Germanic countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, followed by the Middle East, while a quarter of all 2018 sales came from more local sources - Serbia and Montenegro.  

This week's property comes very close to the water and is described by RE/MAX as follows: 

This spacious one bedroom apartment is located on the second (and last) floor of one of the first buildings within the biggest investment project in the country. It has an open-plan kitchen, dining and living room and a bedroom with its own bathroom and walk-in closet. The living room has access to a small terrace and to a large terrace which is shared with another apartment next to this one (these are the only two apartments on this floor). The property is being sold furnished and fully equipped. 

Price on application for this 88m2 apartment. For more photos, info, floor plans and to book a viewing, visit the official RE/MAX listing. 

22 June 2019 - Prime Minister of Montenegro Duško Marković recently visited Karisma's Holiday Villages Montenegro tourist resort in Ulcinj, which had been opened a little over a year ago, reported the Government of Montenegro.

The management of the new tourist resort built on the bases of the former Bellevue and Olympic hotels informed the Prime Minister about the activities it has undertaken and expressed satisfaction with doing business in Montenegro.

Prime Minister Marković visited a new part of the complex, which had been opened last month, including 96 spacious luxury apartments, two new swimming pools, one for adults and one for children and other facilities. PM Marković congratulated the management of the hotel and tourist complex Holiday Villages Montenegro on the new facilities and the fact that already in the pre-season they have 80% of the capacity filled, saying that this data, as well as all parameters, indicates that this tourist season will be very successful, as were the previous two.

Less than two years ago, Holiday Villages Montenegro purchased a part of the HTP "Ulcinjska rivijera" property under a contract involving an investment of over 30 million EUR in hotels adaptations and modernisation and creation of new tourist facilities.

This company continues to invest in the further development of the hotel-tourist complex. At its session on 28 March 2019, the Montenegrin Cabinet gave its consent to the request of the company to enable it to establish a first-rate mortgage over buildings under construction in order to build a new facility - a dependence of a four-star hotel, as well as a facility for technical support.

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