In Kotor, at the 18^th KotorArt Don Branko Days of Music, arrives a world-renowned cellist, Narek Hakhnazaryan. The concert is scheduled for August 5^th in the concert hall at the Church of St. Spirit, starting at 9.30 pm.

A limited amount of tickets are on pre-sale at discounted prices. They can be purchased online via www.gigstix.com or physically throughout Montenegro at the selected Tobacco S Press kiosks. A detailed overview of the locations can be found at www.gigstix.me.

Born in the family of musicians, he began his education in his native Yerevan (Armenia), and continued at the Conservatory in Moscow and the New England Music Conservatory in Boston. He learnt how to play the cello also by the famous Mstislav Rostropovič, whose foundation provided him with the scholarship. He entered the international scene in 2011, when he won, as a 22-year-old, at the 14th International Competition “Tchaikovsky”.

"It is our great pleasure to start presenting artists for this year's Festival. The program that will be implemented in July and August was mostly agreed during the previous year, and early contracting and presentation of the program is a practice and standard for the manifestations of our profile in Europe and critical not only from the aspect of culture but also tourist offer. Among other things, this is also evidenced by the recent acknowledgment by KotorArt: EFFE Label - the European Quality Seal for Art Festivals as well as the "Wild Beauty" awards for the best manifestation in Montenegro for 2018. Narek Hakhnazaryan is an outstanding artist, with incredible energy and musicality, whose solo recital on the cello of the works by J. S. Bach, which is rarely heard, we are all eagerly waiting. His concert will be a kind of culmination of the entire Kotor concert season, which from November to June in our city is organized by KotorArt and the Music School "Vida Matjan", and which this year is dedicated to the cello," said Sara Lakicevic, PR of the Festival.

Hakhnazaryan has played with world orchestras such as the London, Chicago, Detroit, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and the Rotterdam, Seoul, Helsinki and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Marinski Theater Orchestra and the Milan Scala, establishing a cooperation with conductors such as Gergiev, Jarvi, Spivakov, Pletnev, Robertson et al. He held recitals in the world's leading halls and plays the cello, which was built in 1707 by Joseph Guarneri. This will be his first visit to Montenegro.

This year's KotorArt Festival Don Branko Days of Music will be realized under the auspices of Kotor Municipality and the Ministry of Culture as well as with the help of numerous sponsors.

Text by M.D., on March 26th 2019, read more at CdM

An exhibition of the best photographs that arrived at the photo contest "Natural beauties of Montenegro" for the municipalities of Niksic, Pluzine, Savnik and Zabljak will be organized at Pluzine Cultural Centre tomorrow.

At the competition above, which was organized by the Art-Music Association "Scena" from Niksic, 258 photos were received by 86 authors, and the expert jury selected the top 30 which will be presented to the citizens of Pluzine, Niksic, Savnik and Zabljak. Photographer Zeljko Sapuric led the jury, and beside him were also Milos Zvicer, Dusko Markovic and Zoran Dziknic.

"In addition to the three-member expert jury, visitors of the traveling exhibitions will have the opportunity to vote anonymously during the exhibition, after which the expert jury will take into account the votes and select the three best photographs, and the authors will be rewarded with tablet computers," it was explained from “Scena".

Authors of the 30 best photographs are Jelena Todorovic, Anastasija Djuric, Sofija Bajagic, Tanja Jovanovic, Vukica Bujisic, Rade Vojinovic, Vukica Tomic, Milenka Samsal, Desimir Medojevic, Luka Vasiljevic, Ognjen Ceranic, Milica Krstajic, Milan Sapuric, Ljiljana Bogdanovic, Danilo Mijanovic, Miloš Dziknic, Dragana Sumic, Dusan Dakic, Boro Raskovic, Marko Nedovic, Dragutin Pasić, Zeljka Zoric, Ilija Vulanovic, Masa Stevovic, Andrija Vasiljevic, Andrej Karadzic, Dijana Lazarevic, Olga Jokanovic, Miljko Bulajic and Jelena Pavicevic.

The goal of the photo competition is, as they said from the NGO above, the promotion of natural beauties of Niksic, Pluzine, Savnik and Zabljak, as well as the promotion of photography as an art among pupils of primary, secondary schools and students from the mentioned municipalities. The photo contest is organized by the Art Music Association "Scena" within the project "Improvement and promotion of cultural and artistic creativity of the young people of Niksic, Plužine, Savnik and Zabljak", financially supported by the Ministry of Culture of Montenegro, and based on the Public Competition "The Diversity of the Expressions at the Independent cultural scene ".

For more information, please follow TMN's dedicated page

Text by Svetlana Mandic, on March 26th 2019, read more at Vijesti

The organizing team of Spark.me, one of the largest marketing conferences in Southeast Europe, scheduled for May 25^th and 26^th,  which is organized for the first time in the Porto Montenegro Auditorium in Tivat, announced a new Spark.me conference speaker - Cate Murden. Murden is the founder of PUSH, a consulting firm whose practice is based on research into human behavior and who, with clients such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Saatchi & Saatchi, Havas, IMG, HSBC, Sainsbury's and Vice, is working to create a more productive and healthier working environment. Murden, after an exciting career in the media industry that lasted for almost two decades, rose to the position of director of partnership in one of the largest and most successful media agencies in London.

However, such a demanding career took a tribute, and Murden, due to accumulated stress, was forced to leave the job. She managed to overcome the challenging period that was before her, and then turned her personal experience into business and founded the consulting house PUSH, to assist organizations in helping their employees in planning their time better and in dealing with challenging and stressful business tasks.

Murden believes that the organizations in which we work can also be the cause and solution of such problems. Therefore, her mission is to help employees, teams and organizations work better - to do business with less stress, less sensory overload, fewer unnecessary costs, and ultimately, more profit. Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research modes, PUSH strives to understand how companies operate and to regulate the system by making the ultimate goal to be more relaxed and satisfied employees on the one hand, and higher productivity and profit on the other.

Organizers of Spark.me previously published the names of two speakers this year - they are Anab Jain (TED speaker, designer, film producer and co-founder of Superflux, a world-renowned company that innovates in the field of design and technology trying to bring us closer to the world of the future) and Jeremiah Owyang (co-founder of Kaleido Insights and worldwide authority in developing programs that promote innovation of corporations). In the following period, the names of other speakers at the conference will be announced.

More information on Spark.me 2019 can be found here, Facebook page, Twitter account  and Instagram account 

Text by Vijesti Online, on March 27th 2019, read more at Vijesti

March 27, 2019 - "Montenegrin lighthouses as destination icons" is the scientific monograph by Doc. Dr Andjela Jaksic-Stojanovic (Mediterranean Univesity, Montenegro) and prof. Dr Nevena Seric (the Faculty of Economics, University of Split) which recently emerged from the press. 

27 March 2019 - There are many reasons why you'd want to visit Montenegro, the most beautiful coastline, dramatic history, the mountains that rear up to meet the sea and a crystal clear bay. Still, this country has recently worked on significant improvements in the number and quality of hotels, so now is a great time to visit this Mediterranean gem and enjoy the luxury that leads to a perfect holiday.

According to the recent data published by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, the number of hotels in Montenegro in 2018 increased by 25.

The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism stated that the newly opened facilities that have 1985 units in total are mostly luxury high-class hotels.

Within the reports by the Ministry, it is explained that six new hotels built in 2018 have a service that meets five star standards and nine hotels have four stars. In the total number of new hotels, 24% of all units meet the requirements of five-star services, and 36% meet those of the four-star hotels.

"The number of beds in five-star hotels is 50,48 per cent of the total unit number, and the beds in four-star hotels make up 21 per cent of the total number of beds in hotels that started working in 2018," the Ministry's document said.

The newly opened hotels include Perla Residence (Podgorica), Hotel Rivijera – Iberostar (Herceg Novi), Hotel Jadran – Iberostar (Perast), Hotel Holliday Village Montenegro (Ulcinj), Hotel Chedi – Luštica Bay (Tivat) and Hotel Lazaret (Herceg Novi).

Furthermore, when it comes to the categories that foreign tourists at the global level mostly look for in Montenegro, eight hotels have three stars and two facilities have two stars.

The Ministry believes that the growth of the structure of accommodation capacities of high category, as the most important segment of the tourist product, has been particularly contributed by numerous stimulus measures.

These stimulus measures include the abolition of the obligation to pay utility bills for building a four and five star hotel, reducing annual real estate tax to 30 per cent for hotels with four stars, reducing annual real estate tax up to 70 per cent for five-star hotels in priority tourist sites, and lifting the obligation to pay an import VAT for products and services related to the construction of five-star hotels and a low VAT rate of only 7 per cent for hotel accommodation.

26 March 2019 - The Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone of Montenegro in cooperation with the Municipality of Budva plans to deal with the most valuable walking space in this town - promenade from Budva to Bečići and to solve this through the development of a quality permanent plan, said Predrag Jelušič director of this public enterprise. He expects the project to be estimated at 10 million EUR.

The Coastal Zone of Montenegro is planning to invest significant funds for international competition tender for the selection of the best architectural and visual solution of the Lungo Mare promenade, from Sole Mio in Budva to Plavi kamen in Rafailovići.

"It will be a very challenging job for both companies and local government. I believe that we will all be equally committed to choosing a quality solution because Lungo Mare promenade should have a completely different form and a different tourist offer," said Jelušić.

He believes that after the promenade in Tivat and Pet Danica in Herceg Novi, and the promenades in Čanje and Sutomore, now it is Budva's turn to reconstruct its own.

"I believe that Budva is ready to reconstruct this space in a quality way and that this will become a permanent solution that will be full for at least nine months of the year. This way promenade will have its own life and suitable premises that will be able to promote tourist offer and application on its own. Budva will gather many more tourist in this way for both the town and for Montenegro," pointed out Jelušić.

He also added that the perfect example of how Montenegrin coast should look alike and the model for other coastal towns to look into is promenade in Tivat.

"This project will be financially demanding, but it will also be a big benefit to hotel chains in the area, such as the hotel group Budvanska rivijera and other venues that are in the interest of making the promenade according to the most up-to-date standards," stressed out Jelušić.

"I am expecting full commitment from local tourism organizations, because management of this destination is crucial for our city. The tourists want to see every city segment working at its best, from parking to horticulture," Jelušić concluded.

26 March 2019 - Olive oil created by Montenegrin company "13. Jul Plantaže" received an award for quality at the International Manifestation of Olive Growers and Olive Oil Producers held in Neum, Bosnia and Herzegovina from March 21 to 24.

The representatives of Plantaže were proud to announce that by competing at the 21st International Manifestation of Olive Growers and Olive Oil Producers Nočnjak 2019, organised by the Association of Cooperatives Dalmatia, the company won a bronze medal for the quality of their Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

After evaluating the quality of a large number of samples of olive oil from the Mediterranean area, of which 136 samples were in the same category as Plantaže - the category of golden oils, the expert judges awarded the Montenegrin company’s olive oil with the bronze recognition.

The representatives of the company are satisfied and proud of the achieved result, bearing in mind that this is the first competition and the award for Plantaže when it comes to this particular product.

“This recognition has a special emotional value for us, bearing in mind that when we first started the realisation of our vision regarding olive oil, we have been challenged among the olive growers of the region. There was an opinion that the ground of the Ćemovsko field was not compatible with olive seeds and that in this production we could not achieve good results. As many times so far, Ćemovsko field has proven to be an excellent host, who, thanks to the richness of its soil, provides excellent conditions for the cultivation of these subtropical cultures," said the representatives of the company.

The company “13. Jul Plantaže” has about 13.000 olive trees in its plantations, of which most are of the leccino variety, as well as of the Istrian white olive, arbequina and maurina. With the special care and nurturing, as well as handpicked fruit, the most refined processing on cold pressing presses resulted in a harmonious, piquant noble taste, which experts evaluate with the highest grades.

According to official data, the consumption of olive oil in Montenegro is relatively low and amounts to 0,5 litres per person. The data show that Montenegrin neighbours, the Croats, use an average of two litres of olive oil annually, unlike the Greeks, which in average use about 20 litres a year per capita, or the Spaniards and Italians using 11 litres.

“Our intentions and wishes are that Montenegro, the homeland of the oldest olive tree in the world, gets highly positioned in the world based on olive growing, rounding off its authentic wine - gastronomic story," said the PR service of Plantaže.

26 March 2019 - Minister of Defence Predrag Bošković paid an official visit to the State of Maine, where he met with Governor Janet Millsand National Guard Commander Major General Douglas Farnham. 

At the meeting with Governor Mills, Minister Bošković emphasised the importance of Montenegro's full membership in the Alliance, and outlined the role that Montenegro has in ensuring lasting peace and stability in the Western Balkans.

He pointed to the importance of comprehensive bilateral relations between Montenegro and the United States, with the view that one of the crowns of these relations is precisely the State Partnership Program – SPP between Montenegro and the State of Maine, which is based on many compatibilities of Montenegro with this US federal state.

Boškovic also stressed that the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Montenegro are particularly satisfied with the intensity of defence cooperation that should be strengthened alongside the development of relations in other areas of the state partnership. 

Governor Mills praised the overall progress of Montenegro that resulted in NATO membership and expressed satisfaction with the high-quality the State Partnership Program. She pointed out that the State of Maine is open to establishing more significant cooperation with Montenegro, especially in areas such as tourism, economy and education.

At the meeting with Commander Farnham, Minister Bošković stressed the high-quality bilateral defence cooperation, emphasizing that the United States represents the main ally and strategic partner to Montenegro in the area of development of defence capabilities. 

He said that the long-standing partnership between the Armed Forces of Montenegro and the National Guard of Maine within the mentioned State Partnership Program not only actively links these two structures but also gives particularly evident results in terms of improving the existing capacities of the Montenegrin armed forces.

The Minister expressed the gratitude for the support of the National Guard of Maine in strengthening the interoperability and readiness of the Armed Forces of Montenegro for participation in international peacekeeping missions, as well as helping to fulfill the conditions for full membership in NATO. Furthermore, Bošković pointed to the continuous improvement of bilateral defence cooperation, especially in the areas of cyber defense, human resources development, and joint exercises and training. 

General Farnem pointed out that the National Guard of the State of Maine will continue to strongly support the Armed Forces of Montenegro in fulfilling capability goals, and expressed the expectation that the defence cooperation of the two countries will be continued for mutual benefit. He said he was pleased that the SPP has directly influenced the development of the armed forces of both countries.

26 March 2019 - Minister of Sports and Youth Nikola Janović said that the last night's football match between Montenegro and England, which has been seen as a sports festival in the country, is trying to be presented as sports game that contained incidents, but there has never been, and there will be no basis for racism, chauvinism, and nationalism in Montenegro.

"If a group of individuals really sent inexplicable messages, I strongly condemn it on behalf of the Government and the Ministry of Sports and Youth, and I say that there is no and there can be neither justification nor understanding in Montenegro for those people. As a former sports player, athlete and now as a Minister, during conversations with the foreign public I say that in my country there has never been, and there will be no basis for racism, chauvinism, and nationalism," Minister Janović stressed.

The Minister recalled that Montenegro is a civilized state, the only one that has gone through the horrors of the nineties without a war on its territory, the only one in the neighborhood that genuinely and thoroughly has been cherishing multi-ethnic and multi-confessional life for centuries.

"Our clubs and our national teams, our Government, our cities and villages and our families are the fortresses of the richness of our diversity. The spirit of my country was shown in a carnival atmosphere in which this match and the previous matches were awaited in the streets of our capital city both by domestic and foreign fans, applauding the anthem and the visiting team's players even when they scored. As well as the mutual joy after the match without any incident," Minister of Sports and Youth Nikola Janović emphasised.

March 26, 2019 - The protest “Odupri Se - 97,000” organizers reported that they received from the Democratic Front (DF) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) proposals for amendments to the Agreement on the Future Draft. As they rate it, it is an excellent way to continue cooperation with a view to resolving a severe political crisis.

Agreement on the Future - DF proposal: "Let's Agree!"

Agreement on the Future- SDP Proposal: Text Acceptable for Everyone