Djordje Peric, a student of the elementary music school "Kornelije Stankovic" from Bijeljina, won in the pre-category at the 9th International Festival “Harmonika Fest”, which was held in Tivat from 29^th to 31^st May. In the II category, Vladimir Stojanović from the music school I and II degree from Mostar was awarded, and in the III category Pavle Djuric, a pupil of the school "Vasa Pavic" from Podgorica, was awarded. Petar Balaban, a pupil of the school "Savo Popovic" from Cetinje, triumphed in the IV category, in the V was Lazar Janjusević from "Vasa Pavić", Podgorica, and in VII Ante Selak from Makarska.

The first place in the VIII category was won by Stefan Dimitrijevic, a student of the music school "Dr. Miloje Milojevic" from Kragujevac, and in IX Bozidar Rajic (Faculty of Arts Nis).

When it comes to chamber music, the best works were presented by Valentina Celebic (violin) and Vujic Petar (piano), pupils of the school "Savo Popovic" from Cetinje. In the second category, the best were Emina Visnjic (violin), Milica Djurović (violin) and Milica Rabrenovic (piano) from the music school in Bijelo Polje, and in the third the accordion trio - Hristina Merdovic, Relja Cetkovic and Nemanja Boljevic from "Vasa Pavić" Podgorica.

“Inat trio”, consisting of by Azmir Halilovic, Danijel Lovric and Asmir Hamzic (Academy of Music Sarajevo), won the first place in the fourth category.

In the orchestra competition, the first category was won by the orchestra of accordions from the music school "Kosta Manojlovic" from Smederevo, in second was the orchestra of the accordions "Dara Cokorilo" from Niksic, and in the third Kragujevac Academy Accordion Orchestra.

The festival gathered around 250 accordionists from 12 European countries.

Director and founder of the Festival, Predrag Jankovic, said that “Harmonika fest” has been progressing and developing year by year and is positioned well on the map of the well-known European accordion festivals.

"This year, we had a record number of participants in the competition segment. This is an indication that the Festival is going upward," he says.

The contestants were presented in 17 categories.

The participants were evaluated by a renowned jury, including the French Frederic Deshamps, President of the World Conference on Accordionists, Radomir Tomic and Miljan Bjeletic from Serbia, Dalibor Boljun from Croatia, Damir Sultanov from Kazakhstan, Miroslav Ilic and Aleksandar Basarab from Montenegro.

The festival was supported by the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, Tivat Culture Center, Tivat Municipality, and the General Sponsor is the Montenegrin Commercial Bank (CKB).

Text by CdM, on June 2nd, 2019, read more at CdM

Montenegro, as a tourist destination, is open to the markets of the Far East, said the Director of Tourism and Tourism Traffic Directorate Armend Mila.

Mila at a meeting with the President of the Association of Small and Medium Enterprises of China, Markus Li, which was organized as part of an international conference in Bulgaria, said that the growth of the number of tourists from China is significant.

"Given that the panel discussion focused on the development of a single tourist product for promotion in the Far East, the collocutors agreed that it is of great importance to define a model for the management of tourist destinations in terms of sustainable tourism," reads the statement from the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism.

The ministry said that as part of an international conference entitled Investing in Sustainable Tourism, held in Suncev Brijeg, the main topic was a presentation of the best ways of investing in sustainable tourism.

The event was organized under the auspices of the Bulgarian Ministry of Tourism, and the key goal presented opportunities for international cooperation in the field of tourism, potentials for direct foreign investments, as well as open discussion of the problems facing the region when sustainable tourism is in question. Mila participated in a panel discussion that was specially organized within the conference, where he presented the potential of Montenegro, the growth rate in tourism and the problems facing tourism as a branch of economic activity. Mila also met with Bulgaria's Minister of Tourism, Nikolina Angelkov. It is commonly considered that the challenge is to reach the extension of the tourist season in all destinations.

"The speakers also agreed that for to extend the season it is necessary to examine the possibilities of optimizing foreign direct investments, preservation, and promotion of cultural heritage as well as diversification and development of new tourism products," the statement concludes.

Text by MINA Business, on June 1st 2019, read more at Vijesti

The two-decades-old idea about constructing a cable car that would connect Becici and Kosmac fortress could soon be realized. Namely, Budva's new city administration does not give up on being a partner with the private company "Cable Car Montenegro" in the construction of a cableway from Becici Cucuci, not far from Hotel "Falkensteiner", to the Austro-Hungarian fortress Kosmac on Brajici.

At yesterday's meeting, the councilors had to come up with a proposal to establish a public interest that would envisage the expropriation of nearly 35,000 square meters of land on a 2.1-kilometer-long road, where this tourist attraction should pass. This is the seventh decision in the last decade since the idea of ​​the cable car was promised, but only now, after resolving the misunderstandings about the property and legal relations with the owners of the parcels on the track of the future lifts, the decision has been made. However, due to the turmoil within the ruling coalition, a session of the local parliament that needed the green light for this project was postponed until further notice.

The purpose of expropriation was the construction of a cable car on the route Becici - Brajici. The municipality will completely expropriate 16,780 square meters to erect pillars on the site, while 27,393 square meters will be completely expropriated for the official passage and use.

The municipality will be the expropriation user, but all costs will be offset by the company "Cable Car Montenegro", which had deposited money four years ago.

The story of the ski lifts started in 2008 when the company “Cable Car Montenegro” was founded. Investors then proposed that the municipality enter the project.

In the Central Register of Business Entities, 56 percent of the founding capital is owned by a tourist worker Branko Diki Kažanegra, 27 percent by Nikola Koprivica, and Ivan Tomic 17 percent. On March 16^th, 2008, the Municipal Assembly adopted a decision on the role of the Municipality in establishing a company “Cable Car”. In December of that same year, the local parliament adopted amendments to that decision, which approved the entrance of the Municipality as the founder of “Cable Car Montenegro”. As a founding stake, the Municipality entered its immovable property. "Cable Car Montenegro" paid a deposit of 483,680 euros to the special account of the Ministry of Finance in the middle of November 2015 for expropriation purposes for the construction of the cable car.

Then the entire project was promoted, but due to unresolved property issues, there was no construction. It has been stated on several occasions that the project is worth EUR 12 million and that the investor or the company will provide the money for construction and expropriation. The runway of the future lifts would be 2.1 km long, the starting station in Becici, not far from the hotel complex "Falkensteiner", where it is planned to build a large parking lot and a couple of smaller facilities such as a ticket office and a big public toilette.

From here, the ski lift will climb up some 840 meters above sea level, not far from the Austro-Hungarian fortress Kosmac, where it is foreseen to build a complex that would include small ground buildings made of autochthonous materials, mostly stone. The complex would consist of a large restaurant, a couple of souvenir shops, as well as a large amphitheater in the open air, and large green areas for the visitors to have a rest.

In a car with a maximum of eight people, tourists would travel from Becici to Brajici in only six to seven minutes. This could take up to 1,350 to 1,540 passengers for about an hour.

President of the local parliament and Democratic leader Krsto Radovic submitted an amendment to the decision on determining the public interest by which they sought to enforce the expropriation and the protective band along the route.

It is required that the Investment Secretariat will order the execution of an Elaborate to determine the protective band that will also be subject to expropriation.

"After consulting with the citizens and looking at the situation on the field, it has been established that the land through which the pipelines, necessary for the operation of the lifts and the land nearby, cannot serve their purpose, and that it also remains in the property of the current owner of property rights which are obliged to pay the fee for the same," says the explanatory statement of the amendment.

Text by Vuk Lajovic, on June 4th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

June 4, 2019 - An exhibition titled 'Word Blind' by Dutch painter Matthijs Scholten will be officially opened on Thursday, June 6, at the Naval Heritage Collection at 8 pm.

03 June 2019 - An exhibition entitled “ Steps “ (Italian: Passi) - installation by Italian artist Alfredo Pirri was opened at the Centre for Contemporary Art of Montenegro on June 03. The evening event, organized on the occasion of the Statehood Day of the Republic of Italy and 140 years of diplomatic relations between Montenegro and Italy, was opened by the Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanović.

As reported by the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, on this occasion Bogdanović said that this installation by Pirri is a contemporary artwork, “which without a doubt reflects a certain boldness that was left to us as a model by the artistic seekers and demolitionists of the conventions of the European south”.

“The primary task of the art by Pirri is the determination of the relationships between space and activity, which builds a relationship rich in meaning and emotional energy. All this makes the work of Alfredo Pirri very appropriate in the days when we celebrate the jubilee of the cooperation of our two peoples, because it puts emphasis on those connections that are not visible in the area of ​​practical and political relations, but are hidden in deep layers of the spirit of space and historical experience,” Bogdanović explained.

The Ambassador of the Republic of Italy to Montenegro H.E. Luca Zelioli said that Alfredo Pirri is a versatile artist with international renown. “In my opinion, tonight we are taking part in a "cultural event”, not just viewing an exhibition. This event is conceived as a preparation for the celebration of the Statehood Day of the Republic of Italy, which will be held tomorrow in Cetinje. All this is part of a number of events organized by our Embassy on the occasion of the celebration of the 140th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and Montenegro. These relations were established at a time when both countries were kingdoms,” Zelioli stressed.

The installation “ Steps ” represents a very successful concept that was realized in places of exceptional symbolic significance such as the Carthusian Monastery of Saint Lorenzo in Padua (2003), the Caesar Forum in Rome (2007), the National Gallery of Modern Art (2011) and Academy Gallery in Florence (2012) and Altemps Palace in Rome (2018).

Speaking about his installation “Steps“, Pirri stated: “With this work I should like to give the spectator the impression that while moving in space he can modify his vision of it, carrying out a twofold simultaneous action of demolition and reconstruction of the image. His sensations will lead him to think that he himself is the subject of the work, and in experiencing the action of looking at himself upside down, and feeling that infinitesimal space like a skin that binds him to and separates him from his own image, he will come to be part of it in a “natural” manner, in the same way that he is part of the world”.

03 June 2019 - The Government of Montenegro will continue to support the Municipality of Kolašin on its road to further economic development and increase of quality of life of every citizen in the area, said the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Milutin Simović, during a working visit to this municipality.

According to the official report by the Government, Simović confirmed that the support for the growth of Kolašin would include forming of the Agribusiness Centre as a new impulse for the development of the city.

On June 3, Deputy Prime Minister Simović and the President of the Municipality of Kolašin Milosav Bulatović signed an agreement on the establishment of the Agribusiness Centre in Kolašin. The Agribusiness Centre will be equipped with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture.

"This is another concrete indicator of Government support. The Agribusiness Centre will be a new and important address of interest to the citizens of Kolašin, primarily agricultural producers. At this address, all interested citizens can get support for the preparation of business plans, as well as explanations of the content of the extensive Agrobudget and projects financed from EU funds, "Simović stated during a press conference. He added that this example of cooperation of the Government of Montenegro with local government should become a new impulse for the development of agriculture and entrepreneurship in Kolašin.

Simović also said that it is very important that the Agribusiness Centre lives up to the expectations and fulfils its role, especially since the centre’s employees can look up to their colleagues in Žabljak, Mojkovac and Šavnik.

The Mayor of Kolašin Municipality Milosav Bulatović thanked the Deputy Prime Minister for the opportunity to discuss the topics and opportunities for the development of agriculture and the municipality of Kolašin in general. "We are optimistic about the possibilities of agricultural development. By opening the Agribusiness Centre, we get an address that will become a logistics and support centre for the realization of projects of importance for the development of agriculture, improvement of the tourist offer and opening of new jobs, "Bulatović said.

Get more information about business in Montenegro at TMN's dedicated page.

June 4, 2019 - The public hearing on Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Courts, announced on 13 May by the Ministry of Justice, was completed yesterday. However, after the reaction of the Chamber of Advocates, which claims that the proposed changes are not in line with the citizens' interest and EU recommendations, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin, to its President, Zdravko Begovic, promised that the disputed text would be withdrawn from the assembly procedure.

June 3, 2019 - Last weekend, Lustica Bay hosted the Lustica Bay Cup races for Laser and Optimist sailing classes. The regatta was organized in cooperation with local clubs - YC Delfin Tivat, YC Lahor Kotor and YC Jugole Grakalić Herceg Novi, who welcomed the idea to open the new sailing field, especially since their competitors, except international competitions, do not often have the opportunity to check their skills outside the aquatics of Boka Bay.