March 21, 2019 - To provide the more efficient disposal of abandoned and lost animals and their removal from the streets and poor living conditions, Adriatic Marinas financed the purchase of a vehicle for the Utility Company of Kotor, which operates in this and the Municipality of Tivat, under whose jurisdiction Asylum in Kavac.

March 21, 2019 - The promotion of the monograph "Mimosa Festival - 50 years of the Flower Festival" is scheduled for Friday, March 22 at 7 pm in the "Park" Hall.

March 21, 2019 - In cooperation with the Secretariat for Tourism and Entrepreneurship of the Tivat Municipality, Lustica Development organizes a two-day bazaar of local food, agricultural products, and handicrafts, "Meet the Spring," which will be held in the marina village of Lustica Bay over the weekend.

"Lustica Development company has continued the tradition of promoting domestic and autochthonous products abounding in our Tivat and Boka Kotorska. After successfully organizing the event called "Fall Colors Fair" at the end of last year, Lustica Development Company accepted our initiative to organize a similar event this spring with a joint effort, this time symbolizing the coming of spring. As we have been doing since the establishment of this Secretariat, the emphasis will be on promoting local agricultural producers. About 20 of the registered participants, along with the Institute of Healthy Organic Food, and the Agrovit company from Podgorica, will have the opportunity to promote their products during the two-day event services," said Tivat Petar Vujović, secretary for tourism and entrepreneurship yesterday.

On the second day of the event educational workshops in the field of organic agriculture are planned.

"A special attraction for this event will be the gifted and entrepreneurial students of the Drago Milović Elementary School and the "Mladost "Secondary School", which will show on their booths all what their marvelous hands have created over the past few months. I want to point out that the Municipality of Tivat and the Secretariat for Tourism and Entrepreneurship pay particular attention to the children, trying to develop their entrepreneurial spirit from their little feet. We should know that systems and cultures are formed during early childhood, and for this reason, primary education plays an important role in the development of entrepreneurial competence. The role of the municipality is that, by encouraging children to be born from the earliest age, we develop responsibility, creativity and what is most important - self-confidence," Vujovic said.

Among the individual exhibitors who will perform at the fair in Lustica Bay are producers of cheese, brandy, wintergreen, sweet, honey, soap, and medicinal herbs. Their products will also offer producers of fruits, vegetables, domestic wine, juices, and oils.

20 March 2019 - Gastronomic delicacy Durmitor's Clotted Cream will obtain the Protected Designation of Origin, thus becoming a product branded by Montenegro, which means it will gain a new value as a high-quality product and create additional income for its producers.

Montenegro is renowned for its clotted cheese, a tradition rooted in the rural population of the country and which the inhabitants of the north called “Durmitorski skorup“.

Durmitor's Clotted Cream, the sixth gastronomic product branded by Montenegro, is now protected at the national level by the designation of origin. The benefits of certification of the quality label will be passed on to the cream's producers from the territory of Žabljak, Plužine and Šavnik, which will all become part of a new NGO - Association of Durmitor’s Clotted Cream Producers, the Ministry of Agriculture announced.

The complex process of production of clotted cream, which leaves no room for error, makes the quantities of this product very limited. The taste, as well as the overall quality of the clotted cream, depends on the temperature, air and acidity. The producers from Žabljak, Plužine and Šavnik will now have even more important task, to preserve the quality and justify the award and recognition their product has gained.

In addition to the Durmitor’s Clotted Cream, Montenegro has branded five more products during 2017 and 2018: Prosciutto from Njeguši, Cheese from Pljevlja, Montenegrin Beef Prosciutto, Montenegrin Dry-Cured Sheep Meat and Montenegrin Prosciutto.

Completion of the procedure for the branding of the Kolašin Leafy Cheese is expected soon.

With the continuous commitment of local restaurant operators, Montenegrin cooking tradition is passed on through the generations with subtle changes to meet the more modern tastes and likes, while preserving the delicate peculiarities of old recipes.

The protection stamp will mean a new step forward for Montenegro in the area of product quality policy, improvement of domestic production and creation of new jobs and more dynamic development of the local economy.

20 March 2019 - Based on the Sava and Drina corridor integrated development program, which represents new and one of the largest regional initiatives in recent years in the field of integrated water resources management, Montenegro will have at its disposal about 20 million EUR for projects aimed at improving water management in the Drina River basin, according to the report by the country’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

This allocation of funds was agreed at the first meeting of the representatives of the Drina and Sava River Basin States - Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia and Montenegro, with representatives of the World Bank on the launch of the regional Sava-Drina Corridor Program with a total value of 220 million EUR.

"At the meeting held in Brčko, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegrin interests were represented by the State Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Đuro Žugić and the Director General of the Directorate for Water Management, Momčilo Blagojević. The meeting was attended by the World Bank’s Regional Director for Western Balkans Linda Van Gelder and the Country Manager for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro in the Europe and Central Asia region of the World Bank, Emanuel Salinas "the statement read.

The economy and jobs in the Western Balkans region depend heavily on shared water resources such as Sava-Drina waterways, to transport goods, generate energy, grow food and fibres, sustain biodiversity and provide for leisure and eco-tourism. As the Sava flows from west to east across Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina reaching the Danube in Serbia, the river opens the opportunity to regain some of its former position as an important transportation corridor that simultaneously requires interventions to manage floods. The Drina corridor, on the other hand, has significant potential for hydropower generation, food production and tourism development.

The long-term objective of the Sava-Drina River Corridor Integrated Development Program is to foster regional cooperation and unlock productive investments. This regional program, through a range of studies, policy dialogue and investments would aim to strengthen capabilities and economic development of the riparian countries, by jointly selecting priorities for support in technical assistance, dialogue, institutional strengthening, and investment with a focus on the accession process non-EU members and compliance agenda of new members.

Perhaps just as important, the program will also be a relatively uncontroversial opportunity for the countries of the region to signal their ability and willingness to tackle transboundary issues together.

20 March 2019 - The determined fight against organised crime in Montenegro, which has recently resulted in the arrests of members of an organised criminal group, the prevention of serious crimes and progress in key investigations, clearly show that the State is ready for the next phase of the negotiation process, said representatives of the Montenegrin institutions at a meeting in Brussels.

A meeting of the EU Council's Working Group on enlargement and the Countries Negotiating Accession to the EU (COELA), which took place in Brussels earlier today discussed latest results in the fight against high corruption and organised crime.

Chief Negotiator Aleksandar Drljević stated that since the last meeting with COELA in October 2018, Montenegro has Chapter 27, hopeful that Chapter 8 will be opened this year. When it comes to the core of the negotiation process, the rule of law, he pointed out that the EC Working Paper on the situation in chapters 23 and 24 identified better results in combating organized crime than in previous years.

"The results are what we want to present today in order to further convince you that we are ready for the next phase of the negotiation process. The recent decisive attack on organised crime in Montenegro has resulted in a number of arrests of members of an organised criminal gang, the prevention of numerous serious crimes and significant progress in key investigations," the Chief Negotiator said.

Member of the Negotiating Group for chapters 23 and 24 and Head of the Working Group for Chapter 23 Marijana Laković outlined the overall progress in the rule of law. She informed members of COELA about the development of a new Justice Reform Strategy for four years, a new information system for the judiciary, and the improvement of the spatial capacities of judicial institutions. As to the promotion of media freedom, she presented the latest activities undertaken with a view to implementing the recommendations of the European Commission, the Council of Europe and the United Nations. "The Government is determined to guarantee and promote freedom of the media, which represents the core value of any democratic society. This was confirmed by the coordinated actions of the judicial authorities and the police that led to moving forward in investigating attacks on journalists," Ms Laković said.

Special Prosecutor Milivoje Katnić presented the activities of the Special Prosecutor's Office in the fight against organised crime and corruption at a high level, with a focus on cases in the field of public interest. He said that in 2018 financial investigations were initiated in seven cases against 47 physical and legal entities. For criminal offenses of organised crime in 2018, 13 charges were filed against 87 persons charged with criminal acts of high corruption, 12 indictments against 31 persons, while one criminal charge was filed against one person for the criminal offense of money laundering.

Enis Baković of the Police Authority noted that good cooperation between the Police and the State Prosecutor's Offices, as well as international cooperation with EUROPOL, INTERPOL and EU member states, resulted in numerous actions in which members of organsed criminal groups were apprehended and a large amount of drugs and cigarettes was seized.

Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency Sreten Radonjić presented the results of Agency in the past year. He particularly referred to the Agency's work on the implementation of the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns, pointing out that in the last three years the Agency has launched 486 misdemeanor proceedings against political entities and authorities for violating the Law on Financing Political Entities and Election Campaigns.

Representatives of EU member states praised Montenegro's results in the fight against corruption and organised crime, stating that all member states should recognise it and support Montenegro's transition to the next phase of negotiations. They are convinced that the policy of enlargement will remain high on the agenda of the EU after the elections to the European Parliament in May.

20 March 2019 - As a country that is firmly committed to multilateralism, the preservation of peace and boosting mutual trust, Montenegro sees dialogue as a necessary prerequisite for strengthening partnership in order to make the best use of countless potentials in different areas, primarily in tourism, culture, sustainable fisheries, clean energy, said Prime Minister of Montenegro Duško Marković at the Adriatic-Ionian Initiative Conference.

19 March 2019 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović and Head of the European Union Delegation to Montenegro Aivo Orav visited the entrepreneurs in Podgorica, Golubovci and Tuzi, who benefited from the IPARD like programme.

Fourteenth companies from this region invested more than 1,25 million EUR, with potential grants of 535.000 EUR. The European Union has secured three-quarters of the money, while one quarter allocated from the national budget.

European Union Ambassador to Montenegro Aivo Orav emphasised that he is impressed by the concrete results of European Union support for Montenegrin entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture and food processing.

"I am convinced that entrepreneurship of farmers is improving the daily life of the citizens of Montenegro in terms of increasing production, but also meeting the high standards of processing, creating new jobs and contributing to the economic development of Montenegro," said Ambassador Orav.

The Government of Montenegro has been making continuous efforts towards systematic provision of fair conditions in the food market since farmers face numerous challenges in an open market game. These are the challenges that European manufacturers face.

"The new Directive on unfair trading practices in the food supply chain, adopted by the European Parliament on 12 March, is a roadmap and framework for the Montenegrin agricultural policy," said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Milutin Simović

Encouraged by the progress made in the agricultural sector, which significantly contributes to the overall development of the Montenegrin economy, job creation, preservation and improvement of the existing ones, DPM Simović noted that all possibilities should be used to strengthen producers and eliminate the elements of unfair competition.

"I take this opportunity to congratulate the European Parliament, the European Commission and the European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan on the historical breakthrough - the adoption of the Directive on unfair trading practices in the food supply chain. This directive will be very important for the future of European agriculture, for maintaining the stability of the income of agricultural producers and increasing the living standards of citizens who depend on agricultural and related activities," the Deputy Prime Minister stressed.

19 March 2019 - Montenegro is strongly dedicated to the rule of law and in that area, especially in fighting organised crime and corruption, has achieved serious progress, Prime Minister Duško Marković pointed out at the meeting with Ambassador of Belgium in Montenegro Koen Adam. 

March 20, 2019 - After the confirmation of the high artistic quality of the Kotor Festival of Theater for Children, the prestigious European label of excellence in the field of art festivals EFFE Label was received by another manifestation in the ancient Kotor - KotorArt Don Branko’s Music Days.

After the award of the most prestigious in the field of tourism in Montenegro, the "Wild Beauty Award" for the event of the year, KotorArt Don Branko's Music Days received the recognition of the European Association of Festivals with a quality label within a network that adorns art festivals from 45 European countries.

EFFE Label is a European seal of quality for outstanding art festivals that show their engagement in the field of art, community involvement and international openness.

EFFE (Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe) is an initiative launched by the European Association of Festivals (EFAs) with the support of the European Commission and Parliament. EFFE attracts public attention through a database that serves all kinds of interactions and initiatives that recognize the work of various European art festivals.

Festival of KotorArt Don Branko's music days can now be found on the site www.festivalfinder.eu which represents the online festival search site where the audience reveals all the art festivals, from music to theater, street art, dance and literature across Europe.

The European Association of Festivals manages the site with the support of the European Union. All European festivals can be found on the website, while only some of them carry a quality seal, the EFFE Label.

For the festival to bear this mark, it must meet many conditions such as the introduction of a coherent and organized art program and the promotion of permanent artistic development. It has to provide opportunities for future or innovative artists to create or to be presented in the program; local community engagement that fosters local links between the program and the performers, involving local artists and audiences in projects; helping to increase access to culture to a diverse audience; investment in innovation and capacity building and so on.

KotorArt Don Branko’s music days at www.festivalfinder.eu :

KotorArt, the festival of national importance for the culture of Montenegro, is one of the most significant and most important festivals in the country and region. Every summer KotorArt gathers an impressive number of international artists and with over 200 programs at numerous venues in Kotor and throughout the Bay, attracts tens of thousands of visitors, which makes it one of the most visited festivals of this type in the region.

For the past eighteen years, KotorArt has been developing the brand of the city of Kotor, making it recognized in the country and the region for its exclusivity and high artistic level of its programs. KotorArt Don Branko´s music days are a part of the Kotor and Montenegrin cultural identity; it enjoys an international reputation and creates immense benefits for the economic and cultural development of the Bay of Kotor and the promotion of Kotor abroad. It also provides a significant contribution to the international image of Kotor as an inevitable destination with a rich cultural offer.

KotorArt was founded in 2002 as a music festival, by pianist Ratimir Martinović and priest Don Branko Sbutega. By merging major Kotor festivals into one in 2009, the present KotorArt relied on the name and reputation of the music festival, which has been named Don Branko’s Music Days and served as the music segment of the new KotorArt.

In addition to quality classical music programs, KotorArt Don Branko's Music Days also includes Coca-Cola Stage, a series of concerts featuring important regional names of pop, rock and jazz music. Part of the festival is also the Ports of Arts, a series of programs with numerous events featuring young musicians from Montenegro and the region on the Kotor piazzas and surrounding cities, as well as the program series Jazz Square. Every year in July and August, Kotor town piazzas are filled with music programs, performed by renowned artists of our time, such as Krzysztof Penderecki, Nikolai Lugansky, Mischa Maisky, Leonidas Kavakos, Boris Berezovsky, Yuja Wang, Denis Matsuev, Nemanja Radulović, Ivo Pogorelić, Valentina Lisitsa, and many others.