20 November 2018 - Prime Minister Duško Marković expressed satisfaction with the results that the Government has achieved in the first half of its mandate, adding that the Government will continue this way in the upcoming period. 

At the meeting of the Foreign Investors Council in Podgorica, the Prime Minister emphasised that all of Montenegro picked up the momentum that leads to prosperity and the future. Public finances are stabilized, we have macroeconomic stability, and investment activity has increased. The achieved economic growth rates of 4.8% in the first half of the year are among the highest in the region and in Europe – the Prime Minister said. 

Recalling the unfavourable conditions in which the 41st Government of Montenegro began its mandate – the high budget deficit and public debt, unfavourable regional and wider environment – the Prime Minister said that the success was not likely to happen. 

He said that when he took over as the Prime Minister, there were more reasons to believe we won’t succeed to overcome problems, but we managed. We provided a positive trend, we took the opportunity given to us and responded seriously to all the challenges. 

Prime Minister Marković referred to progress in the field of European integrations and added that in December we will have a total of 32 open chapters because we have received information that Chapter 27 on environmental protection will be opened in December. He also pointed out the fact that as a NATO member we have shown that we are able to fulfill the Alliance's obligations. 

Montenegro, PM Marković noted, is an exporter of overall stability. 

The Prime Minister said that the Government's policies resulted in high economic growth, adding that the growth estimates for 2018 cannot be below 4.1%. 

PM Marković emphasised that foreign direct investments, which increased in the first nine months of this year by 48% compared to the same period last year, and the creation of new jobs also represent a successful result. 

"These achievements of the Government's work have resulted in the creation of 9,000 jobs. Until recently, we couldn't speak about the creation of new jobs at all, not to mention this number of new jobs. This is a fantastic result. This is a decrease in the unemployment rate of 4% according to the Employment Agency of Montenegro, which is not very reliable because it contains data that do not give a real picture, and a decrease of 4.6% in the unemployment rate according to the survey. Now, unemployment is at the level of 14.4%, and in December 2017, it was over 21%, according to both records," Prime Minister Marković noted.

The Prime Minister said that the Government will continue to work in the same way in the following period: "I want to continue with such results," PM Marković said, adding that the next year's budget will be developmental. 

The Prime Minister said that the Government would persevere in order to adopt the Law on Fiscalization in the trade of goods and services, but it will consider all the objections coming from stakeholders. He thanked for understanding and support expressed by the Foreign Investors Council towards this legal solution. He added that he expects the law to become effective next year, while its full implementation is foreseen for 2021. 

Commenting on the country's decline in the Doing Business list, PM Marković said that in the previous period we had adopted laws that should improve the business, facilitate business and eliminate barriers. However, he said that the problem is likely in the implementation of the law and that it must be solved. 

In that context, the Law on Spatial Planning and Building Construction has been mentioned, whose effects are still being examined. 

"I still do not see what I expected and I was told that we will get a new law. They warn me that wild construction is growing, that we have few inspections, that the plans are being adopted slower than before," the Prime Minister concluded.

20 November 2018 - The town of Bar gives a strong impetus to the country's development, and the Government will continue to provide support to further improve the quality of life of citizens and strengthen the overall infrastructure, as noted in a meeting between representatives of the government with the delegation of Municipality of Bar, headed by Mayor of Bar Dušan Raičević.

At the meeting organised on the occasion of the Municipality Day, the government's representatives congratulated the citizens and the management, pointing the positive development trend of the State that the Government has provided in the past two years.

During this occasion, the Prime Minister of Montenegro praised the stabilisation of public finances in the municipality, adding that at local and state levels we must continue with financial consolidation and savings through strengthening efforts to reduce the gray economy, but also through investing in infrastructure.

"And not only when it comes to the road, but also energy and digital infrastructure," said Prime Minister Marković.

Mayor of Bar Dušan Raičević said that the municipality is working on the valorisation of tourism potentials in Maljevik and Dubovica, as well as creating conditions for Bar to get its first 5-star hotel. It was jointly stated that the valorisation of the Port of Bar and the airport in Podgorica will additionally encourage the development of the city and strengthen the economic activity.

20 November 2018 - The National Investment Commission approved the Project proposed for candidacy through IV invitation for co-financing infrastructure investments of the motorway - Mateševo - Andrijevica, through the Western Balkans Investment Framework. The Information adopted by the National Investment Commission states that in accordance with the decision adopted at the meeting of the Western Balkans Investment Framework Board of Directors, which took place in Paris on 18 - 19 June, IV invitation for co-financing for already prepared projects in the field of transport and energy was opened.

November 21, 2018 - The Boka Navy Kotor is acting as a protocolar participant in marking more holidays in Boka Bay. Boka today celebrates the Day of the Municipality of Kotor and the Day of the Municipality of Tivat, as well as two religious holidays - Our Lady of Health and the Holy Archangel Day. Again, returnee visits of the delegations of the cities and the ancient tradition of ecumenism, which is particularly respected in Kotor, make this day of the year very important in the context of multiculturalism and harmonious coexistence of the Boka population from the earliest times.

Kotor and Tivat celebrate the glory in honor of the bright anti-fascist past, as the day of liberation from the occupiers in World War II. As it welcomed the release of the Liberation Army in Kotor in 1944, the Boka Navy Kotor through all the decades that followed participates with its ancient protocol in marking the holidays of both cities.

Conducted by City Music – “Music Educational Society Tivat”, headed by the chapel Nevila Klakor, the Tivat Detachment of Boka Navy 809 Kotor, with the participation of Boka Navy Admiral, Dr Antun Sbutega and Lieutenant Zdravko Milošević in the function of Adjutant, accompanied by majorettes, started this morning on the street II of the Dalmatian Brigade to the Tivat Municipality Building. The President of the Municipality, Siniša Kusovac, handed over the state flag to the Navy Barge Gracija Nikolić, after which a solemn procession was sent to the town's promenade Pine.

The ancient, over 12-centuries-old Boka Navy, welcomed the president of the Municipality of Tivat. Commander of the Tivat Detachment, Gracija Škanata, submitted a report with an honorary plot, after which, with the accompaniment of the City Music, Boka Navy performed the Round Dance of St. Tripun. The ceremonies, apart from the vice-presidents of the municipality, Ilija Janović and Dejan Maslovar, as well as representatives of the municipal secretariats, were attended by representatives of the brother towns Ub, Sremski Karlovci, Novi Sad and Konjic. Officials and guests then headed to the Tivat Municipal Building, where the Session of the Municipal Assembly was held.

Representatives of Tivat's Detachment, led by the commander of the Boka Navy's Grand Duke, the First Major Gracija Abović, after the ceremony in Tivat, joined Admiral Antun Sbutega and Lieutenant Zdravko Milošević and headed to Kotor, where has just started the same ceremony. After the report to the mayor of Kotor, Vladimir Jokić, the Boka Navy now performs the Round Dance of St. Tripun at the Arms Square in Kotor. The Solemn Session of the Kotor Assembly is scheduled for 1pm.

Religious holidays are marked by the organization of religious communities, but with great support from Kotor citizens who, despite religious affiliation, visited the Church of Our Lady of Health at Fort Saint Giovanni this morning, as well as the liturgy of Holy Archangel Day in the church of St. Nicholas in the Old Town of Kotor.

November 21, 2018 - In the co-production of the Tivat Culture Center and the City Theater from Podgorica, preparations for the realization of a new theater show - Mali Pirat (The Little Pirate) began in Tivat. The scenario was written by Aleksandra Glovacki by the motives of Anto Staničić's novel. The direction is entrusted to Milan Karadžić, and in the authorship team are costume designer Dragica Laušević, composer Irena Popović Dragović, choreographer Nebojša Gromilić, scenographer Boris Maksimović, and dramaturge Dubravka Drakić.

"Mali Pirat" is a novel by Anto Staničić, which takes place in the eighteenth century when pirates harassed the seas. The novel depicts the life of Bokelian sailors, with a faithful portrayal of Boka Bay folk customs. This novel, alongside adventurous events, also sends a message of love to other people and nations, as well as to the family.

The play for all generations gathers a great ensemble including Dubravka Drakić, Pavle Ilić, Branko Ilić, Miloš Pejović, Goran Slavić, Branka Femić, Katarina Krek, Jelena Simic, Jelena Đukić, Pavle Popović, Maša Labudović, Marija Đurić, Omar Bajramspahić, Sanja Popović and Jovan Krivokapić, as well as children engaged in the school of acting - Miloš Kašćelan, Ivan Kašćelan, Aleksa Baćević and Filip Petrović, and dance groups from Tivat and Kotor.

The premiere of the show in Tivat is scheduled for 20 December, while the Podgorica premiere will be seven days later, on 27 December 2018.

The play will mark the 110th anniversary of the birth of one of the most famous Montenegrin children's writers from the second half of the twentieth century, Anto Staničić, who was born in 1909 in Tivat.

November 20, 2018 - Montenegro still has no protected habitats and protected marine areas, although three sites have long been proposed for protection, said the manager of the Monteaqua project, Radoje Laušević, at the "Marine and Coastal Protection of Montenegro" workshop at the Coastal Institute of Marine Biology.

The workshop was organized within the project "Marine Biodiversity Protection Center of the Aquarium of the Bay - MonteAqua", in cooperation with NGO MedCem from Sutomore.

The theme of the workshop was based on the EU Directive 92/43 / EEC (Habitats Directive), whose provisions relate to measures to preserve and restore habitats and animal and plant species of common interest, taking into account economic, social and cultural requirements and regional and local characteristics of the area.

The objective of the Monteaqua project, funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and implemented by the Marine Biology Institute, is the creation of a network and platform for discussion on topics selected as priority and significant in the process of EU accession to Montenegro under Chapter 27 concerning environmental protection and fisheries, Lausević recalled:

"We hope that the created platform, bringing together experts from scientific research institutions, relevant state institutions, and NGO sectors, will enable active discussion and conclusion not only to be made but to provide access to data, which will be important for the designation of three protected marine areas in Montenegro," said Laušević.

Regarding future management of protected marine areas, Aleksandra Ivanović from the Public Enterprise Sea Property said that this institution has been responsible for the management of protected areas in the coastal zone since 2014: "We are responsible for 24 Protected Areas - 22 Beaches, Ratac peninsula, and Special Nature Reserve – Solila in Tivat". Also, the Sea Property will be responsible for protected areas in the sea as soon as they are established.

Protected Marine Areas and Fisheries

The Belgrade TV director, a passionate diver and environmental activist Dušan Varda, presented a project of the NGO Mediterranean Center for Environmental Monitoring (MedCEM) from Sutomore: "We are implementing a project to strengthen legitimate fisheries in future protected areas in the sea in Montenegro. It is funded by the Network of Managers of Protected Areas of the Mediterranean, Prince Albert of Monaco and the Little Foundation. The project consists of educating fishermen, workshops, brochures, and excursions for Montenegrin fishermen in protected areas in the sea in the surrounding countries - Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy, Varda said.

The habitats become increasingly fragmented because of the increasing pressure they are dealing with, bringing together the decreasing number of plant and animal species, their distribution, as well as the value of goods and services that natural goods provide. Therefore, as concluded yesterday in Kotor, it is necessary to implement laws to improve the overall state of nature.

November 20, 2018 - Cultural Center "Nikola Đurković" Kotor - City Library and Reading Room, for the celebration of 21 November- Kotor Municipality Day, has organized a multimedia lecture for children and young people "Meet the secret world of the Bokelian Mandrać and take a photo".

It is not easy to translate “mandrać” in English, but let’s say it is dry stone jetty, constructed along whole Adriatic coast. Most of these valuable cultural heritage constructions in Boka Bay are demolished, or damaged with inadequate interpolations, such as concrete covers. Mandrać, as a dry stone construction, allows sea water to circulate among stone blocks, so this kind of constructions don’t present any natural threat, neither in disruption of sea currents nor in the destruction of marine organisms inhabiting the sea bottom.

The lecture will be held by architect Maja Krušić and ethnologist Jelena Vidović from the Department for the Protection of Cultural Goods, biologist Ines Peraš, a scientist from the Institute of Marine Biology from Kotor and Ivan Gvido Krivokapić, Coordinator at Kotor and Fishery Tourism Organization.

The lecture will take place in the multimedia hall of the Kotor Cultural Center, on Thursday, November 22 at 10 am.

19 November 2018 - On the sidelines of the conference "European Values, Rule of Law and Security", which took place in Vienna on November 19, Interior Minister of Montenegro Mevludin Nuhodžić met with his Austrian counterpart Herbert Kickl.

Minister Kickl praised the results Montenegro has achieved in the negotiation process with the European Union, especially regarding chapters 23 and 24. 

"Montenegro is EU's extremely important strategic partner in the field of security. Montenegro's place, as well as of the region as a whole, is in the EU," stressed Minister Kickl. He added that Austria will continue to strongly support Montenegro's EU bid by providing concrete assistance to capacity building and harmonisation with European standards in the fields of justice, freedom and security.

Minister Nuhodžić thanked the Government of Austria for the continued efforts to keep the European perspective of the Western Balkans high on the agenda of the EU, and in particular for supporting Montenegro.

It was noted that there is room for further improvement of bilateral police cooperation in combating organised crime and terrorism.

"The situation on the continent is unique in recent history when it comes to security challenges: we all face the same or almost the same threats. Only their intensity varies Therefore, we need to use this fact in a way to cooperate even more intensively and, without exception, to implement what we have agreed as quickly as possible, with the highest quality and commitment. Only then can we be effective. There must be nothing of greater priority than what directly affects the security of our countries and our citizens," said Minister Nuhodžić, but also noted that global security challenges countries worldwide face every day request world's unity in tackling them.

"We need to act together in order to stop trafficking in human beings, drugs or weapons, or potential terrorists. The answer to these challenges can only be in the cooperation between the states. Challenges are such that if only one link fails - it then becomes the problem of not only one country, but much broader. First of all, Montenegro is a responsible state, consistent in meeting all undertaken obligations. By doing that not only do we protect ourselves but others as well," the Interior Minister of Montenegro concluded.

19 November 2018 - Around 15 leading companies in the domain of airport management are interested in the Airports of Montenegro. Concession for the period of 30 years will be granted to the company which offers 100 million EUR of advance payment and the one which is ready to invest 85 million EUR in the first three years, said the Minister of Transport and Maritime Affairs, Osman Nurković.

Nurković confirmed that the concession agreement is ready and announced the tender invitation.

“We have made the concession agreement and the concession act and it should be considered within next few days. After the Government adopts the concession agreement, the public invitation will be called. We expect huge interest of investors and, currently, we have around 15 leader companies in this area,” noted Nurković.

Montenegro is a tourist destination and the number of tourists is constantly increasing. Technical, spatial and security capacities of Montenegrin Airports are not at a satisfactory level and investment is needed.

“Minimum 85 million EUR will be needed to increase the level of quality of our services and stimulate our tourists,” said Nurković.

Interests of employees will be fully protected in case concession is reached.

Apart from the plan for the Airports of Montenegro, the best model for the national airline company is being searched. Nurković says that this company will either go bankrupt or it will be privatized.

“Montenegro Airlines is very important for Montenegro, for tourism in particular. This is a very complex issue, the Government is analyzing it carefully and I’m sure the best possible decision will be brought,” said Nurković.

He confirmed that there are interests for Montenegro Airlines, but they want to buy a company which has potentials, and bring it to optimal level.

“We are now in the situation to either render a decision on rehabilitation of to privatize the company. In the worst case, the company will go bankrupt,” concluded Nurković.

Nurković also spoke about railway transport which Montenegro is focused on since the EU recognized the railway transportation as the most beneficial in ecological terms and the benefits from EU funds are good.

19 November 2018 - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Srđan Darmanović, said again that Montenegro would vote for membership of Kosovo in Interpol. He also said that the relations with Serbia have become more stable ever since Montenegro regained its independence.

Darmanović said clearly that Montenegro cannot influence the agreement Kosovo and Serbia reach regarding the exchange of territories.

“We wish all the best to both of our neighbors. We have always supported their dialogue, but Montenegro cannot be the promoter of the solution. Montenegro does not want crisis and tensions in the region,” said Darmanović.

He pointed out that relations with Serbia are good regardless of some political disagreements that have always been there.

Darmanović also commented on the Nikola Gruevski passing through Montenegro and said he didn’t see anything wrong with that.

“At that time, Gruevski was not at the Interpol’s list of Wanted Persons and Macedonia never gave any signals that he was a person out of the law,” says Darmanović.

He also thinks that tense relations between Montenegro and Russia are passed.

“It would be nice if Russia could understand that their policy in the Balkans has finished in Montenegro. It is NATO member now and the issue is resolved,” said Darmanović.

Text by CdM, on November 19, 2018, read more at CdM.