18 November 2018 - The Montenegrin Chamber of Economy is organizing a presentation of Montenegrin businessmen within the national stand of Montenegro at the forthcoming 25th International Fair 2018 by Klik Ekspo, which will be held in Tirana, Albania, from November 21st to 24th, 2018.

At the International Tirana Klik Ekspo 2018 Fair, Montenegrin producers will present their production programs at the national stand of Montenegro, in the Palace of Congress, on the stand of 40 square meters. The participation in the international fair allows exhibitors and businessmen to present their products and place them on new markets, as well as to promote the existing ones and acquire new business contacts and businessmen cooperation.

Klik Ekspo International Tirana Fair is one of the largest international fairs of entrepreneurship in the region, which takes place every year in Tirana, within 8,000 square meters of exhibition space. In 2017, over 380 direct exhibitors and organizations from around 25 countries exhibited at the fair. At the Tirana International Fair, international and national enterprises present their latest techniques, innovations and services in the areas of trade and commerce. This exhibition gathers exhibitors from engineering and construction materials industry, energy sector, agriculture, IT sectors, catering services, car materials, food products, furniture industry, metal processing machines, textile industry and many others.

Participation at the stand includes the provided equipped space for exhibiting promotional materials and samples that will enable companies to present themselves to other participants and visitors to the Fair. The cost of renting the booth will be borne by the Chamber of Economy.

If you have an interest in joining the Montenegrin delegation that will participate in the Tirana International Fair, please register your participation no later than Friday, November 19, 2018.

Read more information about Chamber of Economy of Montenegro and 25th Tirana International Fair here.

18 November 2018 - The Montagna Travel Montenegro, a tourist agency from Nikšić, is organizing a climb to the First Via Ferrata in Montenegro, located in Kotor at the very exit of the Škurde canyon, on the occasion of the Day of Liberation of Kotor - November 21st.

The number of seats is limited to 50 participants who do not own their equipment for the Via Ferrata. Climbers with their own equipment, who want to participate in the celebration of this day significant for the city of Kotor, can also take part in the event. When applying, it is of great importance to inform the organizers whether you possess the necessary equipment.

Via Ferrata is a secured hiking trail that crosses inaccessible parts of mountain massifs with the help of cables and metal threads. Ferrata is suitable not only for professional alpinists but also for people with average physical fitness that are not engaged in active hiking and sports. Climbers can experience a real feeling of alpine climbing, which is completely safe. No advanced skills nor knowledge is required for using Via Ferrata.

Via Ferrata is located on the very outskirts of the Škurda canyon and at the entrance to the Old town of Kotor. It starts at 80 meters above sea level and ends at 205 m above sea level. Along Via Ferrata, there are two ‘take a break’ benches, which offer an attractive view of the Bay of Kotor, as well as the San Giovanni Fortress and the Old road that connected Montenegro of Old with the Bay of Kotor. Via Ferrata is available year-round and ideal for the tourist season, as it presents a challenge for tourists as well as training for mountaineers. It is also available for all ages.

Each participant is provided with alpine equipment - cable and ropes. All participants receive complete alpine and protective equipment (helmet, belt and ferrata system, which includes 2 carabineers, belt connector and safety system). All participants are tracked by the organizers’ experienced guides who are also mountain rescuers.

Each participant is provided by Montagna Travel Montenegro with safety alpine equipment, but it is important to bring your own shoes.

The gathering at Via Ferrate (80m from the waterfront building, towards the Škurde canyon) is planned for 11.00 - 12.00 hours.

Interested parties can apply to the organizers’ Facebook Page and to their e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. as well as on phone numbers: +382 67 888 887; +382 67 511364.

The organizers invite all interested parties to join them and celebrate the day of liberation of the city of Kotor together. Participation is free for all participants!

18 November 2018 - Montenegro must not slow down its progress on its road to the European Union and it should be focused primarily on closing the chapters. It would be desirable to open Chapter 27 during Austria’s European Union presidency and for the country to complete the Action Plan for Chapters 23 and 24, as noted by the Ambassador of Slovenia to Montenegro, Mitja Močnik. He also said Montenegro has been an example of good practice to other countries of Balkans region.

Slovenia and Montenegro cherish good relations and based on the positive experience and practice in project implementation, Slovenia perceives Montenegro as a priority programme for European Union integration in the region.

“The two states have been implementing a programme-based bilateral development cooperation, mostly for a two-year period of time. The 2018-19 programme is going to be signed on November 23, 2018. The total value of the project amounts to 1,848,949 EUR. Development projects usually refer to the less developed North Montenegro. Slovenia has been offering assistance to Montenegro for this year as well, also through a technical assistance, funded by the European Union’s instrument for pre-accession assistance. Our experts are mostly engaged in Montenegro when compared with other countries of the region,” noted Ambassador of Slovenia to Montenegro Mitja Močnik.

According to him, Montenegro should focus on closing the negotiation chapters, but also added that Montenegro represents a source of stability in the region.

“Some European Union member states are not inclined to speedy opening/closing of the chapters, which does not mean they oppose the enlargement process. Montenegro is a leader in negotiation talks, having in mind dynamics and the number of opened chapters. We must beware of the fact Montenegro restored the independence in 2006 and that it is extremely significant to achieve genuine progress in strengthening macroeconomic, fiscal and tax stability,” Močnik concluded.

18 November 2018 - Minister of the Interior Mevludin Nuhodžić and Director of the Police Directorate Veselin Veljović on the occasion of the eve of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, visited the road traffic checkpoints and noted that the violation of the traffic regulations will be vigorously punished. The state is determined to put an end to the wild driving on the Montenegrin roads. 

"We are here today to support traffic officers who have a hard and responsible job and who care about the lives of drivers. More than a million people are killed every year on the roads in the world. Unfortunately, people are killed on our roads too. The fact is that from year to year this number is decreasing, but every human life is precious and we have to take care of it. Day of Remembrance should remind us to drive slower, to respect traffic signs, not to talk on a mobile phone while driving and to respect speed limits. In this way, we will show concern for our lives, but also for the lives of others," Minister Nuhodžić said. 

The Minister announced rigorous controls of the drivers without any exceptions. 

"They will not be untouchable during traffic control. They will not be excluded and untouchable in the application of legal regulations. We will put an end to the wild driving on the Montenegrin roads, which irresponsibly takes the lives of others! The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Police Directorate will work with full vigor to make such things happen as little as possible," the Minister stressed.

At the checkpoints, the non-governmental organisation Alfa Centre shared informative material in order to motivate the participants in the traffic to reduce speed and not to use mobile phones while driving. 

Executive Director of the Alfa Centre Aleksandar Šime Dedović and Head of the Security Centre Podgorica Milovan Pavićević also visited the checkpoints. Dedović reminded that this NGO has been conducting awareness-raising campaigns for all aspects of traffic safety for the seventh year. 

Both the Minister and the Director of the Alfa Centre called on the representatives of the wider community to engage in the process of education and motivation of the participants in the traffic so that everyone is safer and to reduce the number of road traffic victims. 

The World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is commemorated on the third Sunday of November each year. In 2005 the United Nations General Assembly invited all nations to observe the day as the appropriate acknowledgment of victims of road traffic accidents and raising awareness of traffic safety. 

18 November 2018 - Health minister Kenan Hrapović told Pobjeda daily his ministry has been preparing a document seeking for a way of directing a specific amount of money collected from Tobacco excise taxes to the fund for treatment of rare diseases and expensive medicines.

We might expect the opening of the first bank account during next year already, according to minister Hrapović.

He said: “The Ministry of Health, as well as the Ministry of Finance, discussed this issue in the govt. for several times, in order to find a model for transiting specific amount of money collected from tobacco excises to the fund for the cure of rare diseases and expensive medicines. I think we are progressing well and next year we are to open a specific bank account for these purposes. We shall see how it’s going to work, as not everything depends on the Ministry of Health.”

Text by CdM, on November 18th, 2018, read more at CdM.

17 November 2018 - The tourist organization of Budva represents the tourist offer of the Budva Riviera and Montenegro at the 22nd Fair of Tourism and Catering, called "Autumn Fair", which is being held from 15-18 November in Banja Luka.

In addition to the Tourism Organization of Budva as the carrier of the Montenegrin offer, the country's tourist offer is also presented by the local tourist organizations of Kotor, Tivat, and Herceg Novi.

The interest of Banja Luka for the tourist offer of Montenegro is traditionally high, while a considerable number of media companies are interested in the tourist offer Montenegro present.

Assistant Director of Tourist Organization of Budva, Vukoslav Rucović, met with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Government of the Republika Srpska Stevo Mirjanić, and on that occasion discussed future cooperation in the field of tourism.

The number of guests from the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina is growing every year along the Budva Riviera, which is confirmed by the statistics. This year, for the January-November period, 37.566 guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina stayed on the Budva Riviera with total of 277.108 overnight stays, while in 2018 as total, this number was increased to 44.435 guests, or 316.076 overnight stays, which represents an increase of 18% compared to the same period of the previous year.

By direct communication with the visitors of the stand, representatives of local tourist organizations had the opportunity to promote both the tourist offer for the next season and the New Year's programmes. Tourist Organization of Budva took the opportunity and invited potential guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina to spend their first days of 2019 in Budva. Under the slogan "See you in Budva! Twentieth time!" with a rich and various programme, Budva will mark 20 years in a series of organized New Year's programmes on the square in front of the Old Town in Budva.

There are about 150 exhibitors at 60 booths at the fair in Banja Luka.

17 November 2018 - In the organization of NLP Network, an informative lecture "Why is it good to know NLP?" Was held last night at the Cultural Center "Nikola Đurković" in Kotor. More than 50 people from various industries, from the private and public sector, entrepreneurs, sales staff, marketing, health, and education workers, showed an interest in learning this course. This methodology primarily focuses on methods of neuro-linguistic programming.

Participants were introduced to NLP methodology by Danko Ćetković and Aleksandra Anđelić, the founders of NLP Network, who also presented NLP education, as well as a special way of working, characterized by their trainers. The lecture was interactive, the participants presented their experiences, asked questions related to the application of this methodology in business or private life. The interest in this form of education shows that students recognize the importance of this kind of non-formal education.

"On the one hand, more and more people have the need and desire to work on themselves, to learn new things, to improve their skills, but today's business environment, which is becoming increasingly demanding, requires it from us. The highest quality formal education is no longer required. All that matters is whether you are good or not in your job and the way how you build interpersonal relationships, how you communicate with your clients, colleagues, how you work in the team, how quickly you are adjusting to more and more frequent changes, how you amortize stressful situations, as well as how you plan and manage your work tasks, but also your career," as noted by the representatives of NLP Network.

"Also, we are all more and more seriously disturbed the balance between business and private life, and for that reason, we feel dissatisfaction, constant stress, worry, nervousness and so on. All of this, in the end, leads us to, in spite of the increased effort, to miss the desired results and not to realize all that we can for what we have potential. These are some of the reasons why it is necessary to work on improving the communication skills, flexibility, goal setting, as well as reconsidering their beliefs that can be supportive or even limiting to achieve the desired results, in which NLP can greatly help us with its methods," concluded members of NLP Network during their lecture about methods of neuro-linguistic programming.

Until now, NLP education was conducted only in Podgorica, however, due to the interest shown after the Info Lectures, for the first time in Kotor NLP Basic is being organized - a two-day training programme which will take place during December 8-9. Information and applications can be found here, and you can also follow NLP Network on their Facebook Page.

17 November 2018 - At the annual meeting of the ministers of agriculture of South-Eastern Europe held in Macedonia, deputy prime minister and minister of agriculture and rural development in the Government of Montenegro, Milutin Simović, said that the stability in the Balkans represents a fundamental principle for any further progress of the Balkan countries.

According to him, the Balkans should be perceived not as a problem or a hurdle, but as a chance and as a new energy, especially when it comes to connecting, freedom of movement and goods, capital and people, energy, agriculture, human resources, new transport routes, and logistics centers. The Balkan countries need to use their joint forces and prove they can be the heartbeat of the European Union.

"We must act decisively on our road to the European and Euro-Atlantic integrations, as well as in meeting the requirements. There is no way back, we must succeed. We have achieved and invested a lot, but we need to be even more resolute and courageous because soon we are to face some key challenges,” noted Deputy Prime Minister Milutin Simović.

Speaking about agriculture as a complex sector vulnerable to instability, Minister Simović said that it is necessary to work together towards raising competitiveness in this area, aligning agricultural policies with common European agricultural policy and strengthening capacities for withdrawing generous European pre-accession funds. He also called for a genuine commitment to the implementation of the CEFTA free trade agreement.

The meeting in Macedonia was organized by the Permanent Working Group for Regional Rural Development in Southeast Europe, and hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of Macedonia.

On the sidelines of the ministerial meeting, an agreement on cooperation in the field of agriculture and rural development between Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina will be signed.

17 November 2018 - The European perspective of the Western Balkans now is much better than it used to be, said the Austrian Chancellor, Sebastian Kurz. Kurz also emphasized that Montenegro’s frontrunner status in the EU accession process has been unquestionable and if “it keeps progressing so fast”, 2025 might be a feasible accession date.

“From the beginning of this year, we have intensified our cooperation with the region. The EU-Western Balkans Summit held in Sofia, conclusions of the Council for enlargement of July as well as the London Berlin Process Summit in July sent a clear political message – the EU has been the commitment towards the enlargement. I am deeply convinced that the EU can not be complete unless the Western Balkan countries join it,” concluded Kurz, expressing the importance of Montenegro as a frontrunner in the Western Balkans region.

As for the possible delays of the EU enlargement, Kurz pointed out that it is very important for the countries of the region to focus on required reforms and good neighborly relations, that need to be further upgraded.

During the Europe-Forum Wachau which took place in June this year, Chancellor Kurz concluded that Austria will support integration plans of Montenegro, keeping in mind that the Western Balkans are among the priorities of the Austrian presidency. He also added that the Austrian government is encouraging Montenegro to open two new chapters during the following period because they think that such a step is well deserved.

Read more about Montenegro's involvement in Europe-Forum Wachau here.

16 November 2018 - Hotel Splendid Conference & SPA Resort 5* is the absolute winner in the Best Seaside Hotel category in the region, at the annual SEEbtm Awards 2018.

On November 15, in the organization of the Conference Tourism Platform SEEmice.com and the Specialized Magazine SEEbtm, the congress industry of the region gathered for the 7^th time on the SEEbtm Party, which profiled itself as a strong networking platform of key stakeholders in the congress industry and event management.

SEEbtm party is an exclusive event, organized by the portal “Kongresniturizam” (SEEmice.com) and SEEbtm magazine, which brings together congress industry of South East Europe region. The 2018 SEEbtm Party’s guests included representatives in the field of business tourism and congress industry (hotels, event venues and conference centres, agencies and companies who are the organizers of the events), as well as other stakeholders and influential people from the industry.

At this year’s gathering in Belgrade (Serbia), the SEEbtm Awards were given to the best regional hotels and venues related to the congress and business tourism. These prestigious awards were granted in 17 different categories based on the votes of the “buyers” in congress tourism - people from the congress industry regions, clients of nominated candidates and SEEbtm magazine team. During this event, Hotel "Splendid Conference & SPA Resort 5* received the "Best Seaside Hotel 2018" Award and, once again, confirmed its quality services.

Located in the small town of Bečići in Montenegro, Splendid Conference & SPA Resort was opened in 2006 as the first 5 stars hotel on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. The hotel has four bars and three restaurants of different cuisines, the largest SPA centre in Montenegro and the Casino Royal. Splendid Conference & SPA Resort has the largest conference venue in Montenegro. The venue can host up to 800 people. Hotel Splendid offers several modern halls and syndicate rooms with beautiful decoration and all the necessary technical equipment, suitable for business and private events.

"We are proud of the fact that we were awarded as the best coastal hotel in general because we were the first laureates of this regional award, established two years ago. At that time, we were declared the best Grand Hotel for Congress Tourism with over 200 rooms. Our overall impression is reinforced by the fact that the expert jury consists of 27 jury members and eight out of 8,700 corporate clients from the region, which is really convincing. It is nice to know that we enjoy their trust and that our very clients reward us for what we do for them because they know us best. It is the most beautiful satisfaction for the effort," said the PR manager of the Hotel Group Montenegro stars Maja Vukićević, at the award ceremony.

SEEbtm Awards are recognitions powered by SEEbtm magazine, to the best and most prominent hotels and venues in the meetings industry for the current year, based on the votes of the readers, event organizers and the jury of the SEEbtm magazine. SEEbtm magazine is a magazine specialized in business travel and events industry in the South East Europe region, supported by the leading regional portal Kongresniturizam.com, which this year celebrates 12 years of operation.

Read more information about Hotel Splendid Conference & SPA Resort here.