19 January 2019 - Montenegrin Company “Meso-promet”, based in Bijelo Polje and owned by Hilmija Franca, has directed great efforts towards building a new plant for the production of meat products in Bijelo Polje. The old plant was destroyed in a great fire at the end of April last year. Acting Chief State Architect Dušan Vuksanović gave his approval for the conceptual solution for the construction of this facility to the company in May 2018.

After the fire in which the plant of the Franca – Meso-promet Company was completely destroyed last year, the plant was restored and the production lines for processing meat and meat products were re-established. The first phase of the construction works cost three million EUR. The owner, Hilmija Franca, announced that the foundation stone for a new plant will be put in spring 2019.

"I am sure that on the foundation of this plant, a new, even better plant will be built, which will positively affect not only the consumers of agricultural goods but the entire agricultural sector," said Deputy Prime Minister Milutin Simović after the catastrophic fire.

Designer of the new plant is a company from Bijelo Polje, Inteza Grupa, whose founder is Fuad Sabović, and the executive director is Fatmir Mahmutović. The conceptual solution states that instead of the old object that was demolished, a new one will be built that will have a ground floor and one floor.

Franca, who is the CEO of Meso-promet, announced at the beginning of the year for News Agency Pobjeda that Meso-promet, after a fire that almost completely destroyed the plant of this company in late April last year, has restored 30% of the plant’s capacity and will continue its reconstruction in the second half of January.

Private Company Meso-promet was established on December 10, 1990, in Bijelo Polje. The main activity of the company, as stated on the official website of this company, is the purchase, production, processing and distribution of meat and meat products. The headquarters of the company is in the north of Montenegro, in the industrial zone of Bijelo Polje, on an area of 50 thousand square metres.

19 January 2019 - The new entertainment winter Top programme by the Television of Montenegro, which will be launched on January 20, represents a conceptual and technological innovation by the national broadcaster. Through the following four weekends, TVCG teams will broadcast the winter atmosphere using new equipment. The recent acquisition is a step further in the process of digitizing TVCG.

After several successful projects during the autumn, the TVCG 2 is implementing a new entertainment winter programme. Over the next four weekends, the spectators will be able to witness the atmosphere at four Montenegrin ski centres, whose promotion starts with Kolašin within the “Top programme” (Montenegrin: Vrh program).

Six ski resorts are operational this winter in Montenegro - Savin Kuk and Javorovača at Durmitor, Kolašin 1450 and Kolašin 1600 in Kolašin, Vučje in Nikšić and Hajla in Rožaje. The resorts welcomed numerous guests from other cities of Montenegro, as well as from Serbia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, as well as guests from Western and Eastern Europe.

"After Kolašin, we will move to Vučje, then to Savin kuk at Žabljak, and then we will end the coverage at Hajla in Rožaje. We will broadcast live with a unique entertaining format.  The coverage will include interviews with the representatives of local governments, but also with the guests of the ski centres. We have also prepared some competitive games and prizes for the winners," said the editor of the entertainment commercial programme Top programme, Branimir Žugić.

The editor of the TVCG 2, Sabrija Vulić, pointed out that the national broadcaster will focus on the “winter story” because the World Skiing Championship will follow right after. "TVCG spectators will have the opportunity to enjoy winter charms in Montenegro, even from their warm rooms, for the next twenty days," the editor stressed.

TMN already reported on the offer of Montenegrin ski resorts for the winter 2018/2019.

Source: TVCG

January 19, 2019 - The Little Fiesta of Orange will "spice up" the Jubilee 50th Mimosa Festival with salty and sweet delicacies. Organization members and their guests have prepared rich gastro content devoted to orange. NGO Hands from Herceg Novi is organizing the Little Fiesta for the fifth time.

January 18, 2019 - Ivica Arandus (Ivica Ivo Arandjus) is an academic painter from Tivat, who started his artistic career at the end of the 80s when he moved from Tivat to Düsseldorf, Germany. Today, Arandus enjoys acclamation among his colleagues, but he is also extremely well received by the audience, which has the chance to see his works at numerous solo and collective exhibitions across Europe. We succeed to meet him in Tivat before he goes back to Düsseldorf to close two of his exhibitions which opened in December.

Did art take Arandus to Germany, or did he discover his artistic gift by moving to Düsseldorf?

 

How hard was it to find his artistic path in an entirely new environment, among foreigners, in a foreign language, in the situation where the competition is vast and strong? It seems that for Ivica Arandus, when it comes to art, there have never been barriers.

Although Arandus calls his poetics socio-critical, the first thing that the observer notices when accessing his work is the almost ever-present figure of a woman.

"Surprisingly, the series you're talking about is the best selling of all the thematic series I've been working on so far. I'm still working on it, and I cannot escape this subject because it keeps inspiring me. These are very critical images, but even strong Catholic families in Germany bought those paintings, which I could not believe. They are much more open than eastern countries, such as Poland and the countries of our region. Even in Italy, people are quite critical of the church. The Pope has recently released all bishops in Argentina. In Chicago, the church released about 900 priests for child abuse. In France, there is a trial against one of the major cardinals. Courts generally defend the hierarchy. If there is no pressure from the public, that there are no people to oppose it, it would all be stuffed and still unknown. In Germany there were over 2000 applications, which will ultimately lead to civilian courts. Until now, that was not possible, even the police did not have access to the church. Now it is slowly starting to go globally, people all over the world are slowly rising and retreating. Therefore, it is certain that the Church is one of the themes that will continue to be present in my creation because in my paintings I will continue to deal with the transgression of the spirit and illusions of man. There are certainly good things in religion, but there are also huge scams and exploitation of the population," says Arandus about one of his significant occupations in art.

Although living and creating most of the time in Düsseldorf, Arandus is present in the art scene of Montenegro, where he has had several solo exhibitions in recent years. He also finds time to socialise with colleagues and occasionally participates in art colonies. Asked how to evaluate the position of artists in Montenegro and the Montenegrin art scene, Arandus answers:

In Germany there is a huge competition, only in Dusseldorf, there are over a thousand painters. And there are maybe thirty galleries with where the artist can seriously work. But there are a lot of museums. I think it is needed to feel the competition in a positive sense. It is the competition that motivates you, which gives you the wings to do more and better. The situation is different in our country. I have countless times heard when asking for the price of the picture, so people comment that they can buy a car for that money. Still, the people in our country are more committed to investing in a status symbol, something that other people can see. You buy a picture and exhibit it in your home, and it does not have that effect. The same is with literature. When you read a good book, this is something that is good for you, although not transparent to others," the artist says. 

The police in Bar escorted several citizens who rebelled against the cutting of cypresses in Bar.

Three of the civilian protesters were taken to the police station where, according to police quotes, "they should make statements as citizens".

In front of the building of the police in Bar gathered  30 citizens, relatives, and the friends of three young men, one of whom is a student at the gymnasium in Bar.

Among the citizens are also professors from the schools in Bar.

Young men were released after giving statements and were welcomed by the applause of the citizens.

Stevo Martinovic, Bojan Rukavina and Uroš Pajovic told reporters that they were taken to the police because they undertook passive resistance to police officers, that the police officers treated them fairly and that they protested quietly against the cutting of the cypress trees within the fenced area.

Due to the lack of personal documents, Blažo Marinović was also in the station and was released after giving a statement.

Many police officers were present at the site.

In front of the construction site fence, citizens yelled "UA" at the sound of the wood-saws and were singing the national anthem.

This morning, around six 6 a.m., the cutting of the cypress trees began in front of the gymnasium in Bar.

The trees were removed to build a kindergarten there.

Citizens of Bar were battling for weeks in order to save the cypress trees and kept watch to protect them.

The petition was signed by thousands of citizens, but the city authorities remained silent.

 By 8 a.m. almost 20 trees had already been cut.

Police officers were legitimizing civil activists this morning, who gathered in the enclosed yard and said to "decide whether to continue the protest or not.

Around 8:30 a.m. there were 15 activists inside the site, and around the fence the citizens gathered while the workers of the Nikšić "consortium" continued to cut the cypress trees.

Representative of the contractor said that “Konzorcijum” workers from several cities started cutting around 7:15 a.m., "according to all obtained permits" and that the plan was to cut 80 to 90 trees.

The citizens protested when the cutting began at 7:15 pm, pointing to the trees that were already cut inside the schoolyard.

The police unofficially said that the citizens are legitimized this time, and that the next time they will be arrested, and that "we will provide assistance if the contractors call us", with the statements that the citizens, from this moment, are located where they are not supposed to be because of the works.

Support to the citizens was given by the participants in the expert seminar "Development of Critical Thinking" for elementary school teachers who are holding their workshop in the amphitheatre inside the enclosed part of the yard, besides the cut cypresses.

Text by Radomir Petric, on January 17th 2019, read more at Vijesti

18 January 2019 - The Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management of Montenegro has completed the official Atlas of Montenegrin Beaches – a cadastre of beaches and swimming areas from 2019 to 2023, which determines the standardisation of the beaches, i.e. 12 "types" of beaches that exist on the Montenegrin coast. The beach and swimming area types were already determined within the Program for the Improvement of the Coastal Zone of Montenegro, which was adopted in 2018 by the Steering Committee of the Public Enterprise.

The Atlas defines: hotel swimming areas, family swimming areas, active rest swimming areas, party swimming areas, romantic swimming areas, city swimming areas without beach equipment, swimming areas for people with dogs, swimming areas with natural healing factors and wellness facilities, excursion swimming areas, nudist swimming areas and swimming areas intended for children's resort.

With the categorisation of beach types, the beach offer is harmonised with the demand of the markets that require the segmentation of the swimming areas, explained the director of the Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management of Montenegro, Predrag Jelušić.

“When we declared a certain segment of the Great Beach as sporting and recreational, for guests who want a more attractive and active vacation, we noted that the outcome was favourable. The guests who like to spend their vacation on beaches with a full-day, active content were overjoyed with the innovation in our offer. Thus, this year we have also made progress through the development of the Strategy of Montenegrin Beaches, and we believe that both tourists and the local population will appreciate the change," Jelušić said.

In Herceg Novi, including Njivice, Žanjic, Rose, Dobreč, Mirišta i Arza, 131 bathing places are categorized, of which most are family swimming areas.

“We also want to take on the role of spatial planning for the permanent integral land management in other municipalities, raising the level of quality of service and content which are appropriate for the coastal zone,” Jelušić said. “When we complete the documentation and determine which objects can permanently improve the quality of tourist offer in all municipalities, we will also be able to designate the number of necessary catering facilities. We will insist that these be catering facilities of high content, a minimum category of 4 stars,” explain the representatives of Coastal Zone Management Enterprise.

Source: Radio Jadran

18 January 2019 -  From May 22 to December 1, 2018, the ferry “Dubrovnik” on its route Bar-Bari-Bar (Montenegro-Italy-Montenegro) transported 21.887 passengers, 3.955 cars, 206 camper buses, 44 buses, 888 trucks, 36 trailers and 460 motorcycles. During this period, the ferry departed for Italy 37 times.

The company Barska plovidba AD has been in charge for the route between Bar and Bari for the last two years in cooperation with its Croatian partner Jadrolinija from Rijeka, whose ship "Dubrovnik", for the second year in a row, connects the coasts of Montenegro and Italy, a line that exists over half a century.

The ferry "Dubrovnik" has connected Italian and Montenegrin coasts on the Bar-Bari-Bar route from May 22, 2018, according to Barska plovidba. The leaders of AD Barska plovidba and Jadrolinija from Rijeka signed an agreement on cooperation in 2018, which stipulated that during 2018 the ship "Dubrovnik" will cover the route between Montenegro and Italy.

The ferry Dubrovnik has the length of 122,06 metres, a width of 18,82 metres and height of 12,55 metres with a gauge of 4,83 metres.

The ferry’s structure includes a restaurant with 135 seats, a self-service restaurant with 224 seats, a cake shop, a bar with 274 seats, a video hall, a chapel and a playroom for children.

In 2017, the ferry "Dubrovnik" departed for Italy on 44 occasions and transported about 23.500 passengers and about 4,000 vehicles.

"This line was established in 1965, and so far it has transported two million passengers, 240.000 cars and about 100.000 trucks and trailers. For half a century, the number of passengers who have travelled on this route is four times bigger than the total number of people living in Montenegro, and our most successful business years were 1995, 1996, 2006, 2007 and 2008, "said Tihomir Mirković, Acting Director of Barska plovidba.

Artistic works of the NGO "Slikarski uranak" from Podgorica will be exhibited in the Gallery of the Museum of the Town Perast from January 17^th to February 10^th, 2019. The exhibition can be viewed every working day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The organizer and custodian of the exhibition is Aleksandra Simeunović, an art historian and museum consultant, who is employed in the Museum of the Town Perast.

The non-governmental organization „Slikarski uranak“ was founded in 1993 by Miloš Uskoković, a retired professor, in cooperation with KPZ CG and ULUCG.

„Slikarski uranak“ is an international association of artists that has over 400 members of all artistic and scientific profiles. For the past 25 years, numerous festivals, such as art colonies, literary evenings, exhibitions and excursions across Montenegro, with paintings and photo sessions have been organized, with guest appearances from the region and around the world.

Text by CdM, on January 17th 2019, read more at CdM

Information on the conclusion of the Agreement on the "Montenegrin Scientific and Technological Park" was adopted at the session of the Montenegrin Government. This is a formal establishment of a new institution, like the central one in the scientific and innovation ecosystem in our country, after the contract was approved by the Managing Board of the University of Montenegro at the end of last year, as announced by the Ministry of Science. 

The statement adds that the Science and Technology Park represents a physical infrastructure - a capital building of approximately 13,000 square meters within the university campus, but more importantly, a foundation that will establish new links between business entities and universities.

"In this way, we want to stimulate the dynamics in the transition of our economy to a knowledge-based economy. The science and technology park will be a place of cooperation, joint projects, education, exchanging ideas, and business connections, in a way that already exists in our country but is not visible enough. Many young people focus on innovations as their business changes, but they often work independently on the foreign market without much influence on entrepreneurial and innovation culture and the wider environment in our country. Also, many experienced entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists with high-quality ideas, backed up by many years of research and experience, are waiting for some future partnerships to make them happen," the Ministry of Science stated.

The government’s department said that NTP is the place where innovative entrepreneurs will meet with scientists and students, prospective entrepreneurs and investors, where potential business opportunities will be realized.

"We expect that certain high-tech companies will be interested in establishing their hubs - places for education and the guidance of employees, as well as innovative startups, young companies with the potential for rapid growth and expanding to the wider market, will have their place in NTP," writes the Ministry of Science.

They also pointed out that the Science and Technology Park is networked with other activities of the Ministry of Science, such as Centers of Excellence, Smart Specialization Strategy, and the Program of Stimulating Innovative Startups.

"It is expected to be one of the most active factors in the implementation of our science policies, which are linked to innovation and technological development," the Ministry of Science said.

The founders of the Science and Technology Park are the Government and the University of Montenegro, in a ratio of 57:43 percent.

The facility is located on the Boulevard Mihailo Lalić in Podgorica, near the Technical faculty and is currently in the rough construction phase.

The completion of construction, if administrative procedures and construction works are carried out by the plan, is expected by the end of 2020, and the Montenegrin Government will provide funds estimated at EUR 8.4 million.

Text by Vijesti online, on January 2019, read more at Vijesti

The current local government has made a decisive move to address one of the most significant problems for the city under Orijen. Thus, after almost a decade of the original idea, Herceg Novi Municipality budgeted one million euro in 2019 for the implementation of the new bus station project at Šištet. The goal of the local government is that the city under Orjen, in 2020, will get a representative building that will be the foundation for the further development of Igalo, and Herceg Novi in general.

Design of bus station

The Agency for Construction and Development of Herceg Novi has done a study which elaborated the locations for the construction of a new bus station. The study showed that the advantage of the location at Šištet is that it is located on the west side of the city and gravitates towards border crossings with Croatia, but also towards the branch of the future bypass and the highway route starting in Sutorina. In addition, this is a land owned by the Municipality that covers an area of about 21,000 sqm.

"First of all, we will build it with everything we need, and then expand it later on with the business and economic aspects," explained the Director of the Agency for Construction and Development of Herceg Novi, Boro Lučić.

PROJECT THAT WILL CONTRIBUTE TO DEVELOPMENT AND PROGRESS

As stated in the preliminary design, a significant number of tourists visiting Herceg Novi emphasized the fact that bus station is an important public building for the functioning of the utility city system, but also the first urban element of visitor experiences coming to the city.

Complex of the bus station

In the completed design solution, the surface, content and appearance of a new modern bus station are defined. The new bus station with accompanying facilities will occupy approximately 30 thousand sqm. It is designed as a complete functional zone, consisting of a terminal building, an object of accompanying business and commercial content, manipulative spaces for buses, an access road with a parking area and a maintenance facility with parking spaces. The conceptual solution envisages a total of 326 parking spaces, of which 99 are over-ground and 227 underground.

According to the conceptual solution, the bus station with additional facilities would be built in three phases, i.e. three mutually functional and technologically separate facilities.

The first phase involves the construction of a bus station building with a plateau and a supporting business space, totaling 15,169 m². As a precondition of the first phase, an access infrastructure will be built - a crossroad with the Adriatic highway and access street and parking in front of the main station building.

The second phase implies the construction of facilities for accompanying business and service facilities, while the third phase foresees the construction of a commercial center.

"Herceg Novi is an important tourist destination of Montenegro, and the proposed solution builds the first impression of Herceg Novi through the arrival of a complex urban ambience, conceived of a variety of facilities, organized into a unique functional unit that broadcasts the modernity, originality of interpretation and color sensations of the Mediterranean," reads the conceptual solution.

FREE TRANSPORT FOR CHILDREN, PUPILS AND PENSIONERS

The local administration has provided transportation to pupils from the villages and suburban settlements in Herceg Novi free of charge throughout the whole year, as well as for those whose families are in a difficult financial situation and to the children of the Children's Home "Mladost." In addition, free transportation was provided to the retirees with the lowest incomes from the territory of the Herceg Novi.

For the first time in three decades the city bus line has been extended, so buses are now moving to Sutorina, making the Municipality respond positively to the numerous requests of the citizens. In this way, it meets the needs of numerous citizens, residents of Bajkovina and Njivice, as well as numerous employees of large business centers in this part of town, to whom the extended line will make much the transport to work much easier. In addition, another station will be introduced at the intersection towards the settlement Servisna zona and Bajkovina for citizens who live and work in this part of the city.

Text by Promo, on January 18th 2019, read more at Vijesti