Igor Noveljic, Managing Director of Elektroprivreda Montenegro (EPCG), announced that the first phase of works for the solar power plant in Ulcinj, near Bliska Gora, will begin, with a deadline of 18 months for construction and is expected to be in production by the end of 2021. Noveljic said that the establishment of the project company (SPV), based in Montenegro, is in the final phase, which will be in charge of the project, whose total value exceeds 200 million euros.

The ownership structure of the company will be made by the winners on the state tender for the construction of a solar power plant: Finnish Fortum and EPCG with 49 percent of the shares, and Sterling & Wilson with two percent of the shares.

Noveljic specified that around 45 million relates to the first phase, which includes the procurement of the module and the overall scope of designing, purchasing and installing equipment along with works stipulated by the contract. The value of the investment in the transmission network, i.e., the power transmission system of Montenegro, including the construction of the substation "Bar 2", is estimated at about 30 million.

"The benefit of the project implementation will be multiple for EPCG, state, local government, domestic companies, and finally, citizens and consumers. Only based on lease costs, the investor will pay over 50 million euros into the state budget for a term of 25 years, not counting any other anticipated fees, taxes and costs that will be a significant part of the municipal budget," Noveljic said.

He added that, after the completion of both phases, 226 workers are expected to be employed, and he expects that up to 1,000 workers will be employed on the site during construction, as well as the participation of domestic firms will be around 20 million euros.

The contract between the state and consortium EPCG representatives, Fortum and Sterling & Wilson for land lease and construction of a solar power plant over 250 megawatts was signed last year, on December 28^th. EPCG's Director, in response to what has been done to date, responded that negotiations with Sterling & Wilson, the world's largest EPC contractor in the field of solar power plant construction are ongoing, and about EPC contract design, equipment procurement, and solar power plant construction:

"Additionally, in the final phase, preparation of the necessary documentation regarding the establishment of a project company that will be in charge of the realization of the project, i.e. the contract of the members of the company, will soon be the subject of approval by the company's management, the Board of Directors and the EPCG Shareholders Assembly. After that, it will be established and registered," Noveljic said. The planned annual solar power plant production, after completion of both project phases, will amount to approximately 450 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity annually.

The agreement foresees the lease of state-owned land of 6,621,121 square meters, out of which 2,930,243 square meters have valid spatial planning documentation for the purpose of building solar power plants, and for the remaining area it is necessary to obtain the spatial planning documentation.

Text by Ivana Gudovic, on May 29th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

In the season in which they did not defend the title in the ABA league, in which they played the Euroleague (with six wins in 30 matches), the basketball players of Buducnost Voli returned the Montenegrin championship title to Podgorica.

In a dramatic third match, Petar Mijovic's players defeated Mornar 76:72, and solved the final with 3: 2 in wins, as two years ago against the same rival. Buducnost came to the 12th championship title since Montenegro's independence, and this season they also achieved the double crown after winning the Cup of Montenegro.

Mijovic, who took over the team after Jasmin Repesa left at the start of the Super League, won the first independent trophy in the senior competition. The team from Bar was in the game to defend the trophy until the last moment, although Buducnost was the favorite, it was a situation where one ball decided the winner.

Buducnost led 2:0 in the series, Mornar equalized for 2:2, so the decision was made in the fifth duel of the two best Montenegrin teams. The finale was played in a great ambience at "Moraca", with about 2,500 spectators, of which a couple of hundred fans were from Bar, but the match ended in the shadow of a serious injury of Filip Barovic, who injured his knee after a little more than three minutes into the third quarter. The strong player from Niksic was unlucky when he attacked the hoop, and in the duel with Uros Lukovic, his knee buckled and Barovic fell on the floor. Barovic started to strike the floor with his fist, and all the basketball players of Mornar were worried, but the action did not stop. On the other side, Marko Mugosa scored three points (with whistles from the stands), and only then the game was interrupted.

Check-ups will show the severity of the injury, but the grimace on the face of the great fighter does not promise that his absence will be short. In less than an hour after the match, Barovic was led by the hands of a physiotherapist out of the hall.

Barovic is seriously in the risk of missing the World Cup in China, which is played in September. It is more bad luck for the team from Podgorica after the recent injuries of Aleksa Ilic, Nikola Ivanovic and Petar Popovic.

As for the final match, although it seemed that the game was decided just less than seven minutes before the end, when Buducnost led 64:51, Mornar managed to score for 71:70, 28.3 seconds before the end.

Then a real drama took place - Sead Sehović missed a shot, but the ball in the attack was caught by Nemanja Gordic and a foul was made. He hit both throws with 11.1 seconds before the end for 73:70.

Nikola Rebic, on the other side, made the difference in points 73:72, 6.8 seconds before the end, and returned hope to the guests.

Everything was decided when Strahinja Micovic made a deliberate foul at Gordic, at a time when the Podgorica team tried to get the ball under their hoop. There were protests by the players from Bar towards the judge Radomir Vojinovic, who decided on the doubtful foul.

Gordic hit one of the two throws, and then, after getting the ball on the side, and after being fouled again, shot for the final 76:72

Buducnost Voli - Mornar 76:72 (22:18, 16:13, 22:19, 16:22)

Podgorica - Hall: "Moraca". Audience: 2,500. Judges: Vojinovic, Rutesic, Savovic.

Budućnost Voli: JACKSON 13 (6-4), SU. ŠEHOVIĆ 3, BAROVIĆ 13(2-1), Se. Šehović 5 (2-1), GORDIĆ 21 (9-7), Starovlah, Z. Nikolić 3 (2-1), Pajović, Drobnjak 5 (2-2), Bell 8 (2-0), D. NIKOLIĆ 5 (2-1), Žugić.

Mornar: JELENIĆ 14 (4-2), MIĆOVIĆ 5 (4-0), Mijović 3, MUGOŠA 8, Marljukić, Pavić 8 (2-1), Vujošević 4, Cenović, Živanović, Kostić, REBIĆ 17 (7-6), LUKOVIĆ 13 (9-7).

Text by Sasa Joncic, on May 30th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

Milos Zarkovic from Podgorica is one of one hundred winners of the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey scholarship program at the world level. He said that his goal was to improve himself in the United States.

"Bearing in mind that I was in France during my Ph.D. studies and I graduated at one of the best universities in Ireland, the decision on academic and professional development abroad has never been brought into question. With regard to studying in a large number of European countries, including Vienna, Bratislava, Zagreb, and Ljubljana for basic studies, my dream was to further pursue my knowledge in the United States. This was achieved in August 2018 at the University of Boston," Milos said.

Zarkovic explains that it is necessary to meet conditions such as fluent English and completed faculty with high average grades in order to be eligible for this prestigious scholarship. Candidates must also have five years of professional experience in the field they want to study and expressed leadership skills.

"I had a good foundation for the program, by staying in 2016 at the Russian Presidential Academy for Economics and Participating in the Global Summit of Young Leaders in Moscow. An additional reference was my participation at the scientific conferences of the Geary Institute in Dublin, Ireland and Stellenbosch University in Cape Town, South Africa. Anyway, this year, the program marked 40 years of its existence," he says. The difference between the educational system abroad and here is best seen in the spectrum of opportunities that the state offers to its citizens, emphasizes Zarkovic.

"Starting from the education system, opportunities for cooperation and learning from the world-renowned professors, working in one of the most successful companies, healthcare quality, America offers great opportunities in all areas. I lived and studied in many countries in Europe, but after a while, in the United States I came to the conclusion that the US is the best place to recognize potential in every person," Milos said.

Zarkovic adds that the professors are much more accessible than those in Europe and in particular those in Montenegro. "My view is that the US study system does not prepare students for a particular profession or job but allows them to develop a whole spectrum of skills that are applicable to several professions. In America, there is a great emphasis on interdisciplinary education that promotes critical thinking and freedom of thought," says Milos. 

I would like to build a career in Montenegro

Milos also points to the importance of studies and specializations abroad and recommends that students apply for exchange and training programs outside the borders of Montenegro.

 "In my opinion, young people are more likely to adapt to changing work and living environments. Schooling in the United States represents a unique opportunity for students to become acquainted first with the way of life in such a large country, and then with the educational system that is one of the best in the world. As much as the path to the goal sometimes seems unimaginable and difficult to overcome, only faith in oneself, love for the job, labor are the right definitions that lead to the desired results. We often have the opportunity to hear that staying abroad can change one’s life. It is one thing to know it, and to experience the same, is completely different. Indeed, it is worth every effort," concludes Milos, who hopes that Montenegro will recognize his work, experience and quality and thus will allow him to build a career outside of Montenegro.

Text by Andjela Minic and Aleksandra Kovacevic, on May 29th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

May 30, 2019 - A public debate on the draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Courts is in progress. The draft includes, among other things, the amendment of the local jurisdiction of the Basic Court in Kotor, so that the Basic Court in Cetinje is competent for the territory of the Municipality of Budva. According to attorneys of the South Region, gathered in the Attorney Chamber of Montenegro, such a proposal is unacceptable, because the court of Kotor may then come to the category of economically inexperienced courts, which could ultimately lead to its abolition because of the request for rationalization. It would have caused the most significant damage to citizens of Boka.

May 30, 2019 - Prince Albert II of Monaco, who is on a two-day visit to Montenegro, visited the Institute of Marine Biology at Kotor yesterday and announced further support to international research projects of this institution, aimed at studying and protecting the biggest shell in the Mediterranean - Noble Pen Shell, lat. Pinna Nobilis.

The collection of short stories written by the elementary and high school students from Montenegro called “Dragons are coming” will have 40 stories, as decided by the jury of the Seventh Regional Festival of Fantastic Literature REFESTICON 2019. The competition announced for the first time to promote the creativity and popularization of literary fantasy among young people received 89 stories from all over Montenegro.

Stories in three categories are selected, from the fourth to the sixth grade, from the seventh to the ninth and in the category for high schools, and the best ranked will be rewarded with the newly established prize the 'Dragon's egg'.

The stories were anonymously evaluated by Slobodan Zoran Obradovic from Bijelo Polje, Radmila Knezevic from Budva, Nadja Durkovic from Podgorica and Blagoje Vujisic from Bijelo Polje.

The organizers invite all award-winning participants and their mentors to the celebration of presenting prizes which will be held on Friday, June 7th, at 5 p.m. in Bijelo polje within the 7th REFESTICON. All authors whose stories are included in the collection will get a free copy of the book.

STUDENTS AWARDED IN THREE CATEGORIES

In the category of the youngest pupils from the fourth to sixth grade from the elementary schools, the Golden Dragon’s Egg Award was given to Radmila Korac, a pupil of the sixth grade from "Braca Ribar" Elementary School in Bijelo Polje. The Silver Dragon’s Egg Award in this category with the same number of points is shared by Ksenija Djurovic, elementary school pupil of "Kekec" from Sutomore, Jovana Bugarin, 6^th grade elementary school pupil from "Risto Ratkovic" in Bijelo Polje, then Nina Doljanica, 5^th grade pupil from the elementary school "Narodni heroj Savo Ilic" in Kotor and Stasa Obradovic, 5^th grade pupil from the elementary school "Risto Ratković" from Bijelo Polje. The third place in this category and the Bronze Dragon’s Egg Award belonged to Milos Djukanovic, a pupil of the fifth grade from the elementary school "Dusan Bojovic" in Niksic.

In the category of elementary school students from the seventh to the ninth grade, the highest points and the Golden Dragon's Egg award were won by a pupil of the ninth grade from the elementary school "Marko Miljanov" in Bijelo Polje, Ajla Sabovic. The second prize and the Silver Dragon's Egg was won by the eighth-grade pupil from the elementary school "Vladislav Sl. Ribnikar" in Bijelo Polje, Andjela Pavicevic. In this category, with the same number of points, the Bronze Dragon's Egg Award is equally divided by three students: Vasil Music from the seventh grade of primary school "Vladislav Sl. Ribnikar "from Bijelo Polje, Strahinja Bajovic from the ninth grade of elementary school" Vuko Jovovic" from Danilovgrad and Nikolina Nikolic from the seventh grade of the school " Narodni heroj Savo Ilic” in Kotor.

Andjela Vucetic, a student of the high school "Ivan Goran Kovacic" from Herceg Novi, won the highest number of points in the high school category and the Golden Dragon’s Egg award. In this category, the second place and Silver Dragon’s Egg was awarded to Nemanja Djuric from the high school "Ivan Goran Kovacic" from Herceg Novi and a pupil of the Gymnasium Kotor Vasilije Vuksanović from Budva. In this category, the same number of points and the Bronze Dragon's Egg Award was won by three students: Luka Tapuskovic, second grade student from secondary school "Sergije Stanic" from Podgorica, Maja Catović from the second grade from Gymnasium Kotor and Vuk Djordjevic from the third grade of the high school "Ivan Goran Kovacic "from Herceg Novi.

The Special prize Fire Dragon’s Egg was awarded to the youngest participant in the competition - a five year old Novak Lakcevic from Bijelo Polje. For the front page of the collection, the art work by Helena Rakonjac, the eighth-grade student from the elementary school "Dusan Korac" in Bijelo polje was selected. The stories and authors that will be found in the collection “Dragon are coming”: High schools

Propuštena prilika – Anđela Vučetić (Herceg Novi)
Otkrovenje zvano zmaj – Nemanja Đurić (Herceg Novi)
Biografija poznavaoca zmajeva – Vasilije Vuksanović (Budva)
Zmaj energija koju otkrivam u sebi – Vuk Đorđević (Herceg Novi)
Posljednji dah Saragora – Luka Tapušković (Podgorica)
Moj Leo – Maja Ćatović (Kotor)
Jedna duša – Andrea Jelić (Andrijevica)
Zmaj i pećina – Almina Gredić (Bijelo Polje)
Potraga za zlatnim zmajem – Žarko Vujović (Herceg Novi)
Legenda je postala stvarnost – Jelena Smolović (Bijelo Polje)
Povratak snu – Andrej Marković (Cetinje)
Biografija jednog zmaja – Ajla Kukuljac (Herceg Novi)
Vražija pećina – Jovana Obradović (Bijelo Polje)

Primary schools 7^th, 8^th, 9^th grade

Bilo je to negdje, nekad – Ajla Šabović (Bijelo Polje)
Zdravčica za zmajicu – Anđela Pavićević (Bijelo Polje)
Zmajeva kletva – Vasil Musić (Bijelo Polje)
Zmaj i Pako – Strahinja Bajović (Danilovgrad)
Zmaj u dimenziji N – Nikolina Nikolić (Kotor)
Rasmus – Stastija Perović (Kotor)
Dobrota će pobijediti i zmajevu vatru – Hamza Bralić – Rožaje
Usnuli Rio – Nikola Kovač (Kotor)
Povratak – Teodora Mušikić (Nikšić)
Narak i Gordije – Danilo Balaban (Cetinje)
Velike tajne malog mjesta – Tarik Idrizović (Bijelo Polje)

Neustrašivi zmaj plemenitog srca – Andrea Vukčević (Podgorica)
Poklon – Jovana Šućur (Nikšić)
Bajka o muzičkom selu – Ana Doljenica (Kotor)
Preobražaj – Sofija Aleksić (Nikšić)
Zmajevi dolaze – Aranđela Baošić (Bijelo Polje)
Zmaj noćne more – Helena Rakonjac (Bijelo Polje)

Primary schools 4^th, 5^th, 6^th grades

Spasitelj – Radmila Korać (Bijelo Polje)
Legenda o selu Zmajevu – Ksenija Đurović (Sutomore)
Zmajevi dolaze – legenda o dolasku – Jovana Bugarin (Bijelo Polje)
Legenda malog sela – Nina Doljanica (Kotor)
Uvrnuti san – Staša Obradović (Bijelo Polje)
Na krilima zmaja – Miloš Đukanović (Nikšić)
Feniks se vraća – Stefanija Božović (Bijelo Polje)
Neobičan susret – Kristijan Mitrović (Nikšić)
Čarobna moć duginog luka – Faida Zejnilović (Bijelo Polje)

Additional:

Djevojčica i zmaj – Novak Lakčević (Bijelo Polje)

(The sequence is from the contents of the collection and does not represent the number of points won at the competition)

Text by CdM, on May 28th 2019, read more at CdM

The habits of citizens throwing away all waste, including glass packaging, in the same place, will be changed by adopting a new legal waste management solution, as announced by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT) for the first quarter (January-March) of 2020.

Glass packaging in Montenegro is now disposed together with other miscellaneous waste, and the ministry of Pavle Radulovic said that this will not be the case in years to come because the new law foresees the separation of glass from other waste. They also recall that the separate collection of waste, with the precondition that a minimum of separate collection of dry and wet waste, is provided by the State Waste Management Plan. 

As proposed by the Waste Management Act, glass waste packaging will be regulated through a part related to packaging waste, which will be the responsibility of the manufacturer or importer of the packaging. "Manufacturers will bear the costs of the organized collection, gathering and processing of waste packaging. If manufacturers do not organize such a system, they will pay the Eco-Fund fee, and the funds from that compensation will be used to finance the collection, gathering, and processing of special types of waste, including glass packaging waste.

Please note that the adoption of the Waste Management Act is planned for the first quarter of 2020," the ministry said. Glass belongs to one of the most durable materials and the time for the glass bottles and jars to dispose of is estimated at a million years. Since it is fragile and as such damages the living world, its recycling is recommended in every form because the glass can be unlimitedly recycled.

In the European Union, some countries have introduced a deposit system, and on average they collect and recycle 90 percent of glass and plastic bottles and cans.

Sweden introduced this system first in 1984, and in the group of ten countries, the last to join was Lithuania, which doubled the rate of the waste collection very quickly. In the region, only Croatia has introduced a deposit system, and in Serbia announced they would do this for years.

Director of Serbia's Environmental Protection Agency Filip Radovic announced the introduction of the deposit system at the beginning of the year. He stressed that the introduction of the deposit system should motivate citizens and industry not to deposit waste in the environment and clarified that Serbia would have appliances where citizens would place the packaging and receive money for doing the same. He did not specify when that might happen. In Belgrade and other Serbian cities, in certain locations, there are bells for the disposal of glass packaging. In the capital of Serbia, they are set where there are plenty of shops and restaurants.

In Podgorica, there are more and more underground containers, and in the region, their usage is diminishing

In Podgorica, ordinary containers have been replaced with underground ones in many locations in recent years. As the relevant authorities from the City Capital have indicated that the advantages of underground containers compared to ordinary waste disposal facilities are large - they provide more efficient garbage collection, hygiene is improved. However, experiences from the region are not the same.

Mayor of Belgrade Goran Vesic recently said that in Belgrade there are 400 recyclable containers, and they have been placed instead of the underground ones, which proved to be very bad. "In Belgrade, we currently have a total of four hundred recyclable containers. They are placed on the site of former underground containers, which proved to be very bad. Most of them failed, and the firm that maintained them went into bankruptcy. That is why we decided to replace them with the recyclable containers," said Vesic.

Recycling also brings peaceful dreams

Changing habits in the way of depositing the glass packaging will bring peace to the citizens of the center of Podgorica, who claim that they do not have peace due to the noise made by some caterers who do not choose the right time to throw away glass packaging from the shops into the containers.

"When they unload glass bottles into a container, the noise is unbearable, often in the late hours, as well as in the afternoon, when it's time to rest," one of the fellow citizens said.

Text by Borko Zdero, on May 28th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

In the first half of June, Pljevlja will mark the 450^th anniversary since the construction of the Hussein Pasha Mosque, one of the most important cultural-historical and religious buildings in Montenegro.

On the 8^th and 9^th of June, the Islamic Community will organize a two-day scientific meeting on "Hussein Pasha Boljanic and his endowment - on the occasion of the 450th anniversary of Hussein Pasha's Mosque in Pljevlja".

A member of the organizing committee Jakub Durgut said that the scientific conference would have an international character with the participation of historians from Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, and Turkey.

"In addition to the scientific gathering, a miniature exhibition of the Quran from 1579 is planned in Hussein Pasha's mosque and at the end an academy, where they would give thanks to donors and credit-worthy individuals who helped restore the mosque in 2006 and 2007," Durgut said.

The Hussein Pasha mosque was built in 1569, and it is the endowment of Hussein Pasha Boljanic, a Herzegovinian Sandzak-Bey born in the village of Boljanici. His high position enabled him to build the mosque in Pljevlja as his endowment to his homeland. Hussein Pasha's Mosque, one of the most valuable oriental cultural monuments in the Balkans, is a stone-walled building with a minaret 42 meters high.

It is assumed that the mosque’s builder is Hajrudin who also built the bridge in Mostar. The Hussein Pasha mosque had two major restorations, the first in 1888 and 2006/2007 when the detailed renovation was done.

With the last restoration, the Hussein Pasha's mosque was restored to its original and authentic appearance.

Text by Goran Malidzan, on May 28th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

May 29, 2019 - The public company Sea Property is not a partner of the Municipality of Herceg Novi nor to the citizens of our city. It does not respect the efforts to achieve the cooperation, reads the announcement of the Public Invitation for the Lease of the city port of Škver, announced by the President of the Herceg Novi Municipality, Stevan Katić. 

May 29, 2019 - The Music Education Society of Tivat, the oldest cultural institution in this city, marks 110 years since its founding. A central manifestation in the year of the great jubilee, a tour of at least 12 wind orchestras, is scheduled for 15 June at 7 pm. The program named"Big Noise" implies the defile of the city's street center, the joint performance of marches on the city waterfront of Pine, and individual representations of wind orchestras from Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.

Tivat City Orchestra- Music Education Society in Schoder, Albania, Copyright: Society's FB Page

Music Education Society in Performance, Photo by Nikoleta Celanovic

Music Education Society orchestra in 1930s

Antun and Ana Žeželić, founders of the first music school in Tivat

Šime Staničić called Šimeta, one of the Music Education Society Founders

Music Education Society Performs in all manifestations of the importance for the city, Photo by: Antonela Stjepcevic

New Year's Concert of the Music Education Society, Held in Decembre 2018, Photo by Sinisa Lukovic, Vijesti

Music Education Society, Photo by Antonela Stjepcevic