April 11, 2019 - The private concessionaire over the monopoly line Kamenari - Lepetane in Boka Bay, the Herceg Novi company Maritime Traffic achieved a profit of 1.95 million last year, which is 6.3 percent less than a year earlier. 

April 11, 2019 - "Strategic development of tourism based on the valorisation of cultural heritage" is the theme of an international conference organized by the Secretariat for Tourism, Economic Development and Entrepreneurship of the Municipality of Herceg Novi in cooperation with the local Tourism Organization and within the project "Network of Tourist Cities for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage".

April 11, 2019 - The Municipality of Kotor, the Public Institution "Museums" Kotor and the Cultural Center "Nikola Ðurković" will organize a full day program to commemorate forty years since the earthquake (1979-2019) on 15 April.

Boka Navy Round Dance at the Square of Arms on 15 April 1979

Kotor and the Area Was Seriously Destroyed in 1979 Earthquake, 136 People Lost Their Lives

Kotor Immediately After the 1979 Earthquake, Archive Photo

10 April 2019 - Prime Minister Duško Marković hosted Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan Eldar Hasanov. The meeting noted that Montenegro and Azerbaijan could further enrich their excellent political bilateral relations with stronger economic cooperation and more investment in tourism, but also energy and infrastructure. 

"Montenegro has made a huge step forward in the overall progress. We have been NATO member state for two years now, we have progressed far in the negotiations with the EU, and we are strongly committed to economic growth and development issues," PM Marković stressed. 

Furthermore, he pointed to important economic parameters - a growth rate of 4.9 percent in the previous year, a steady increase in revenues, an increase in the number of employees by 12,000, a decrease in unemployment by six percent, and added that the industry grew in the previous year. 

"I sincerely congratulate you on this result," Ambassador Hasanov said, adding that Azerbaijani investors are interested in new investments in tourism resorts as well as in infrastructure strengthening projects. 

The meeting discussed the most significant investment from Azerbaijan in Montenegro - Porto Novi, which will give a new quality to the tourist offer of Montenegro. 

The Ambassador particularly appreciated stability and security in Montenegro and praised its constructive role in the region.

The two countries recently introduced that direct flight between Montenegro and Azerbaijan should be available soon. During this occasion, President of Montenegro Milo Đukanović and President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev agreed that it was essential to discuss and encourage the introduction of direct flights between Montenegro and Azerbaijan and to abolish visas between the two states.

“Successful implementation of the ‘Portonovi’ project represents the result of high level of trust that exists at the highest and all the other levels of the government,” Aliyev noted.

Montenegro is also actively cooperating with Azerbaijan in the field of culture and the latest meeting which took place in Baku in October 2018 discussed the cooperation in the field of cultural heritage, having in mind that Montenegro is interested in the candidacy of Ćilim from Bihor to the UNESCO’s Best Practice List. Considering that Baku has a Carpet Museum, on this occasion Minister Bogdanović stressed that Montenegro finds the exchange of experiences in this area critical since the tradition of Azerbaijan’s Carpet is registered on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

10 April 2019 - Five years after the start of bailiffs' work, citizens, business people and investors in Montenegro have witnessed significantly faster and more efficient exercise of the rights and more favourable environment for business, Deputy Prime Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin pointed out at the meeting with representatives of the Chamber of Bailiffs of Montenegro.

Time has proven, the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised, that the Government's decision of 2014 to initiate a fundamental system reform of the execution of court decisions and create an independent and autonomous function for them was right and justified, thus establishing a more efficient, faster and cheaper procedure for the enforcement of judgments.

The Deputy Prime Minister underscored the significance of the bailiffs' contribution to achieving justice in Montenegro and ensuring prompt and timely fulfillment of legal obligations to creditors and holders of the property rights. This, in his words, has significantly unburdened courts, while providing more prompt and efficient exercise of the denied rights of citizens, the DPM stated.

President of the Chamber of Bailiffs Vidak Latković stressed that in the last five years in Montenegro, they had 350 000 cases to work on. He also highlighted that the number of cases reduces every year, which testifies to increased discipline in accomplishing legal requirements and a higher degree of exercise of individuals rights. He emphasised that the Chamber has established a special commission, which will conduct, in cooperation with the Ministry in Justice, standard internal control of bailiffs' work.

Deputy Prime Minister Pažin reiterated that the Ministry closely supervises the legality of the bailiffs' work. He underlined that the Ministry of Justice had established high–quality cooperation with the Chamber of Bailiffs, with which it cooperates closely on boosting bailiffs' expert capacities, as well as providing strict compliance with the ethical and professional standards of the profession. Initiating appropriate proceedings, including a small number of conscienceless they having been removed from office in the previous period, contributed to enhancing professionalism and responsibility of the profession, the DPM concluded.

10 April 2019 - During his visit to the United Arab Emirates, Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanović met with his UAE counterpart Noura Al Kaabi. Ministers Bogdanović and Al Kaabi discussed the possibilities for cooperation between the two countries in the field of culture.

They pointed out that it is of the utmost importance to sign as quickly as possible the agreement on cooperation in the area of culture. The meeting also discussed the exchange of experience in the field of the development of creative industries, which were stressed as very important for encouraging the development of products and services based on elements of culture and art, as well as linking artists from the two countries.

Minister of Culture of Montenegro Aleksandar Bogdanović participated in the Culture Summit Abu Dhabi 2019, at the invitation of UAE Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development Noura Al Kaabi. This year's Summit discussed the role of culture in global challenges and the impact of creativity and technology on positive changes in the world.

At the Summit, Minister Bogdanović talked with the representatives of the participating countries about similar experiences in the areas of development of cultural and artistic creativity and creative industries and the preservation and protection of cultural heritage. Opportunities for cooperation on joint projects of creative industries, promotion of cultural diversity, protection and conservation of cultural heritage and digitization were also discussed.

Earlier, during the December 2018, to mark ten years of diplomatic relations between the United Arab Emirates and Montenegro, the embassy of the United Arab Emirates organized UAE-MNE Cultural Evening on November 27 at the Great Hall of the Cultural and Informational Centre "Budo Tomović".

On this occasion, it was concluded that the audience in Montenegro had the opportunity to enjoy the folklore performances of the cultural, artistic associations from the UAE, in a friendly exchange with the cultural, artistic association from Montenegro for the first time.

09 April 2019 - Works on the construction of energy infrastructure for electricity supply of Bar-Boljare motorway are planned to start in August this year. “Monteput” company is in charge of the realization of the investment that will cost 31,6 million EUR.

The public tender has not been published yet, and the representatives of the company said that they had to reach an agreement with the Montenegrin Electricity Distribution System and Montenegrin Electric Transmission System regarding the regulation of rights and responsibilities on account of the buy-back of the energy infrastructure.

“Preparations for the public tender for the contractor are underway. Also, the procedures regarding the issuance of approvals for the purchase of energy infrastructure are on,” said the representatives of “Monteput”.

One of the pre-requisites for the tender is the provision of money through a loan.

“Monteput”, headed by Jonuz Mujović, is about to bring the talks about the million loan to the end.

“We are negotiating with several potential creditors over the provision of funds for the realization of this project. Right now, we are not able to give you any more details,” said the representatives of “Monteput”.

Around 160.000 EUR will be earmarked for the repayment of the loan for the highway electricity supply.

“We think that it would not be appropriate if we bid names of the interested companies. It is still very early,” said the representatives of “Monteput”.

Works are due to be completed in a period of 15 months.

The executive director of ‘Monteput’, Jonuz Mujević also stated that the Bar-Boljare motorway should be completed by September 2020.

Mujević said that the construction works performed by China’s CRBC company should be completed by May 2019 but there are delays due to “certain misunderstandings of the design, harmonization with the European documents and hydro-geological researches.”

“The negotiations on signing the Annex to the Contract are about to finish. There are certain obstacles in the implementation of the previous construction works. ‘Monteput’ expected everything would go much faster,” said Mujević at the round-table on the motorway organized by the Network of Affirmation of the NGO Sector, MANS.

Also, he stressed that having in mind the quality of the motorway, Montenegro is going to have the lowest possible maintenance costs according to European standards.

09 April 2019 - NATO will donate a 3D radar system to Montenegro which is going to be installed on Bjelasica. The Ministry of Defense applied earlier for the abandonment of the radar which is worth around 20 million EUR.

“We can confirm the grant of the radar to Montenegrin authorities. This important step is another of our efforts that go into ensuring defense and protection of the air space of the country, together with the police air forces provided by the ally planes from Greece and Italy,” said representatives of NATO.

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Montenegro, Dragutin Dakić, recently presented the information about the radar.

“The next step in modernization is the provision of radar. Since it is a pretty big investment, we got it in the form of a donation from NATO. We must finance it through equipment and arrangement of positioning at an annual level. That way, we will cover all the critical spots to round up the whole picture of Montenegro. However, considering its configuration and the fact that Montenegro has got many dark angles, we opted for the radar that will most likely be installed on Bjelasica. This way, our air space will be integrated into the NATO system,” said Dakić at the meeting of the Safety Committee held recently.

According to the unofficial knowledge of “Pobjeda”, Montenegro will defray expenses of transport and installation. It could cost around 4 million EUR, considerably less than if it had to cover all the expenses of the radar system by itself.

Commenting on the donation, a military analyst, Aleksandar Radić, said that it was very important, especially in financial terms.

“It is necessary to sign a technical agreement which would define the model of the borrowing and if that will be a national borrowing of if NATO agency will make procurement within its possibilities,” pointed out Radić.

Long-term defense plan envisaged the procurement of 3D radar which will enable full operational capacity for generating the image of the situation in the air space of Montenegro.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro

April 10, 2019 - The delegation of the Citizens' Movement Odupri Se 97,000 expect to get a call to visit Brussels and talk to European officials, said one of the members of the organizing committee of the civil movement, Dzemal Perovic, after meeting with the head of the European Union (EU) delegation in Montenegro, Aivo Orav.

April 10, 2019 - An exhibition of art photographs, entitled "My Feeling For The Sea", by members of the Association of Adriatic Artists and the Photo Club "Marin Getaldić" from Dubrovnik, was opened on Tuesday evening in the Maritime Heritage Collection of Porto Montenegro in Tivat.