February 24, 2019 - The organisers of the "97,000-Odupri Se" protest, at last night's meeting in Podgorica, have announced new demands: the irrevocable resignation of members of the Public Service Council and General Director of Montenegrin Radio Television (RTCG) Bozidar Sundic. Despite the terrible weather conditions, around 10,000 citizens from all Montenegrin cities participated in the third round of protest.

Gathering at the Independance Square, Copyright: "97,000 Odupri Se" FB Page

Thousands of people gathered in Podgorica, photo: Boris Pejovic, Vijesti

Protestants in front of RTCG building, photo by Boris Pejovic, Vijesti

23 February 2019 - Hotel Mimoza, the oldest Tivat hotel built in 1958, was demolished in 2016, and a new hotel with apartments for sale on the market will be built at the same location.

The previous Hotel Mimoza had a restaurant with 200 seats, a cocktail bar, a snack bar, a 100-seater meeting room and a fun games room with a billiard room and an attractive terrace in the park. The hotel's capacity was 144 beds in 72 rooms.

The new owner of the hotel is the company "Mimoza Group" LLC from Tivat. They paid the former owner, the HTT "Mimoza", majority owned by Đorđije Nicović, about 6,5 million EUR.

"Hotel Mimoza Hotel & Residence will have 66 units, out of which 48 standard rooms, six studios, as well as 12 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments," the new hotel owners specified in the recent statement. They also said that the investment worth about 30 million EUR was worth it and that the construction works are carried out by Russian investors through a company registered in Germany. The

In 2018, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro has issued urban technical conditions to the company "Mimoza Group" for the preparation of technical documentation, for the reconstruction of the existing facility-condo hotel at the site of urban parcels UP117 and UP118 in the procedure of Detailed Urban Plan Tivat-Centre", which is intended for business in the function of tourism.

“The planned upgrade is 1,600 square metres, and the upgrading with its dimensions, volume and materialization must be in accordance with the architecture of the existing object and ambient," states the UTC obtained from the Ministry.

23 February 2019 - At its latest session the Government approved the Road Safety Report for 2018, in which it was concluded that the analysis of statistical indicators of traffic accidents indicates that the traffic safety in 2018 significantly improved compared to the previous year and can be assessed as favourable.

The number of fatalities decreased by 23.8%, the number of seriously injured persons was reduced by 9.5% and the number of minor injuries was reduced by 1.8%. The Government tasked the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Transport Directorate and the Police Authority to undertake all planned measures for the implementation of strategic and other planning documents and regulations and to continue the activities on securing financial and other prerequisites for the implementation of all necessary measures towards all traffic participants in 2019.

In line with the Law Amending the Law on the Central Bank, the Government passed the Regulation Amending the Regulation on the cessation of the validity of certain by-laws. The Law Amending the Law on the Central Bank removed the article regarding the legal basis for the adoption of the Rulebook on detailed conditions and procedure for providing emergency liquidity support to the bank, which created the conditions for the termination of the Rule.

The representatives of the Government of Montenegro adopted the Regulation on the amount of fee for the issuance of urban and technical conditions for temporary facilities established by the Programme of temporary facilities, which established fees in the amount of 10.00 EUR for mobile and 50.00 EUR for fixed temporary facilities.

The Government approved the Information on the Proposed Agreement on the Implementation of the Technical Support Project between the Ministry of Finance of Hungary and the Government of Montenegro - the Office for European Integration, within the Interreg V-B Danube Transnational for the period 2014-2020. The signing of the Agreement aims to efficiently and effectively manage and implement the Programme and improve the support to project promoters and beneficiaries.

The session was concluded with approval of the Information on amendments to the Financing Agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the European Commission related to the "IPA Adriatic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme" under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 2007-2013, with the Proposal for Amendments to the Financing Agreement. The changes relate to more precise information presentation and are not essential.

23 February 2019 - Representatives of Government of Montenegro hosted Secretary-General of the Regional Cooperation Council Majlinda Bregu. Implementation of policies and decisions we are making must be in our focus in order to create new opportunities for young people in the Balkans and reduce their need to go abroad, it was noted at the meeting. 

Representatives of the Government of Montenegro expressed their full support to the work of the Regional Cooperation Council and congratulated the Secretary-General on assuming her duties, and added that through active participation in this and other regional initiatives, Montenegro promotes dialogue, understanding and tolerance as a prerequisite for stability, and therefore for economic growth and development and better life of citizens. 

"The connectivity within the Berlin Process is very important for us in all key areas: trade, infrastructure, mobility and digital agendas," as said by the representatives of the Government of Montenegro, and reiterated that Montenegro will always be Regional Cooperation Council's reliable partner. 

Bregu said that the Regional Cooperation Council focuses on the regional economic area, with a special emphasis on the digital agenda and mobility, and in that regard emphasised that the Regional Cooperation Council is working on the issues of elimination of roaming in the region, pointing to the importance of this initiative for its citizens. Ahead of the next summit within the Berlin Process initiative, which will be held in Poznan in July, both sides agreed that everything should be done at the level of the countries of the region in order to achieve this and other initiatives and bring concrete results for the Western Balkans.

23 February 2019 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Justice Zoran Pažin recently met with Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn. Montenegro has made visible progress in the key areas of rule of law which the European Commission pointed out in its latest annual report, DPM Pažin said at the meeting. 

"The results that Montenegro achieves in the consistent implementation of European policies, primarily through the protection and promotion of the freedoms, rights and security of our citizens, give us the right to expect the support of partners from EU to the faster progress in the accession process," the Deputy Prime Minister noted. 

He estimated that the decisive efforts of state authorities against organised crime resulted in numerous arrests of members of criminal groups, prevention of a number of serious crimes and significant progress in key investigations. 

Commissioner Hahn expressed the expectation that this year, during his mandate, the European Commission will be able to conclude that Montenegro has met interim benchmarks in negotiating chapters 23 and 24, giving clear guidelines for the final closure of negotiations in these chapters. 

The meeting was also attended by Minister of Science Sanja Damjanović, who presented the project for the establishment of the South-East Europe International Institute for Sustainable Technologies. 

The Minister expressed gratitude to the European Commission for the significant financial support in the development of this scientific project, which according to her has the potential to become one of the leading projects within the European Neighbourhood Policy. 

Establishing the Institute is Montenegro's initiative aimed at strengthening scientific and technological cooperation, strengthening scientific capacities and preventing the outflow of talent from the region.

22 February 2019 - Podgorica will get another residential-business complex on the site of the current Hotel City under Ljubović, and the potential investor, Company UTIP Montenegro, does not reject the possibility that one part of the building could be left for a different hotel category than the existing one.

As TMN previously reported, the demolition of the current City Hotel in Podgorica started February 11. The representative of UTIP Montenegro, Nemanja Nikolić, said that the destruction would take about 40 days. He added that they had already announced the construction of a multi-purpose residential and business facility.

According to the project that is being completed by the Podgorica architectural bureau, only the residential business building that would have a little less than 25,000 square meters is mapped to the place where the City Hotel today is located. Six floors, ground floor, and underground garage are projected.

"A multipurpose business residential building is planned on the plot. In addition to housing, the business segment is planned on the ground floor, and in one part of the building, the investors plan a construction of a city hotel that will have a separate entrance and which can be stretched vertically through the entire height of the building," reported the representatives of Detailed Urban Plan of Podgorica.

According to the investors, the project will be finished by the end of next year. "One of the most interesting future projects is the residential complex Ljubović Hill, located in an extremely attractive location in the city at the foot of Ljubović Hill, soured in the natural greenery of the mountain slopes, just next to the famous city promenade and recreation areas, and at the very heart of the city," stated the representatives of Normal Company, the project's investor.

22 February 2019 -The "Belle Adriatique" cruiser was the first to bring guests to Bar this year, marking the beginning of the cruising season in Bar. Tourist Organisation Bar, Barska plovidba, as well as the Cluster of tourism and creative industries, organized a joint traditional welcome for guests from the cruiser.

Director of the TO Bar, Emil Kukalj, said that he was satisfied with the early start of the cruising season, compared to the start of the previous seasons. "We are very satisfied with the fact that today we will host a significant number of tourists who will visit Bar, above all Stari Bar and the Old Olive," Kukalj said.

The TO Bar representative said they expect the arrival of about 27 ships, which, according to the report, is a significant figure for Bar. Namely, they also stated that the number of cruisers who visit Bar is increasing from year to year.

"Today, the first cruiser owned by a French company came to the port. The specificity of this first cruiser that arrived today at the port of Bar is exactly the date of its arrival, i.e. the ship arrived in the winter period, which is a rarity," said the Director of the Department for Passenger and Goods Traffic of Barska plovidba Sanja Tomašević. She pointed out that, according to schedule, the same cruiser will arrive in Bar eight more times this season.

Tourists from "Belle Adriatique" cruiser were presented with souvenirs and gastronomic delicacies.

Olja Fatić, President of the Tourism Cluster, pointed out that the goal of the grand welcome of tourists who come to Bar is to present the tourism offer of Bar and Montenegro in a different manner. "Our cluster includes 15 active exhibitors dealing with handicrafts, such as olive oil, other olive products, goat milk products, soaps, decorative items and many others," Fatić said.

The owner of the agency Ave turs Biljana Dabić pointed out that this is the first year in which the cruising season opens in the winter period and will last until the half of October. She believes that in 2019 the cruising season will be record-breaking by the number of cruisers arriving, and by the number of guests as well.

It has been announced that more than 25,000 cruiser tourists will arrive in Bar within this season. "We do not expect benefits within the first year. Still, if you just consider that 25,000 people are coming to Bar, their potential satisfaction and happiness with their journey mean a lot. Their positive experience will mean that on the tourist map of the world, Bar will be presented to hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world, "said Dabić.

February 23, 2019 - Regent Porto Montenegro is taking part in a gourmet festival Goût de France - Good France which is held across the globe to celebrate French gastronomy. Among thousands of dinners “à la française” on the five continents and nation-wide gourmet initiatives, Regent’s Murano Restaurant will organize a themed dinner on 21 March dedicated to the promotion of French gastronomy. This year’s festival focus is on socially and environmentally responsible cuisine.

February 23, 2019 - The public protest in Montenegro, known as "97,000-Odupri Se" (97,000-Resist), after gathering around 10,000 citizens last Saturday, continues today, 23 February with another protest walk in Podgorica, scheduled for 6 pm to start from the Independence Square.

22 February 2019 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Milutin Simović presented in Cetinje the results of the IPARD Support Programme in the processing industry. 

As a result of the first public call for grants to support investment in the processing industry through the IPARD Programme, 21 projects will be supported with a total investment of more than 12.5 million EUR, DPM Simović said, assessing that the beginning of the use of funds from the big IPARD is the beginning of a large investment swing in Montenegrin agriculture. 

In the presence of beneficiaries - 21 entrepreneurs from Bar, Bijelo Polje, Budva, Cetinje, Mojkovac, Nikšić, Podgorica and Pljevlja, representatives of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, as well as competent institutions involved in the implementation of IPARD and representatives of local self-government, Simović expressed satisfaction that they all together marked a new step forward in Montenegrin agriculture.

"We are together again: valuable entrepreneurs, our EU partners, the Government, local self-government and media representatives. Together we mark the beginning of a large investment swing in Montenegrin agriculture - the beginning of the use of funds from the large IPARD programme. The year in which Montenegrin agriculture will significantly strengthen its capacities in primary production and processing, with generous support from European funds and the Government of Montenegro, lies ahead of us," Simović stressed. 

The total amount of investments is over 12.5 million EUR, and the grant is over 5 million EUR. Non-refundable support from European Union funds amounts to 3.9 million EUR, and from the national budget 1.3 million EUR. 

"These investments will provide new 85 jobs and the viability of 786 existing jobs," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised. 

Head of the Cooperation Section at the EU Delegation to Montenegro Hermann Spitz said that this was a joint EU-Montenegrin support for the development of rural areas, increased competitiveness of agricultural production and adoption of high EU standards for sustainable land use, food safety and better access to the EU market. 

According to Spitz, the number of received applications exceeded initial expectations. This is, he said, a positive signal and indicator that the Montenegrin agriculture sector needs big investments, that the producers are ready for the challenge in order to improve production, but also an indicator that Montenegrin agriculture has a future.