12 December 2018 - President of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović, met with the president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, who handed him the highest national decoration - Ordain of the national honor on the necklace. Mayor ofAsunción, Mario Ferreiro, handed Đukanović the keys to the Capital city and the charter of the honorary guest of their capital, suggesting him fraternity with Podgorica.

The two presidents talked about the Montenegrin emigrants, who started arriving to Paraguay at the beginning of 19th century. There are around two thousand of their descendants, many of whom are successful in business, politics, and diplomacy. Even some members of the delegation of the president of Paraguay have Montenegrin origins.

Đukanović pointed out that Montenegro and Paraguay had similar experiences regarding their freedom and past, as well as regarding their strategic vision of the future.

Đukanović invited his Paraguayan counterpart to visit our country, and he gladly accepted the invitation.

“The two Presidents attended the signing of the Memorandum on the cooperation of diplomatic academies and the Agreement on the abolition of visas for the holders of diplomatic and official passports,” reads the report.

The first lady of Paraguay organized an interesting program for the first lady of Montenegro. Together, they visited famous “Women City” – authentic Paraguayan project.

Abdo Benítez and his wife organized lunch for Milo and Lidija Đukanović in their residence.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro

10 December 2018 - Montenegro officially opened negotiations in Chapter 27 - Environment and Climate Change at the Intergovernmental Conference in Brussels earlier today.

At the conference, it was stressed that the opening of this chapter is another success for Montenegro and recognition for the intensive work on harmonising domestic legislation with EU regulations and building the necessary administrative capacity.

In his address to the representatives of the member states and the European Commission, Head of the Montenegrin delegation, Foreign Minister Srđan Darmanović, said that Montenegro has opened 32 chapters to date, of which three are closed. Darmanović added that the effort the country is putting in the alignment with the Acquis communautaire testifies to its continued and strong commitment to the European integration process. He believes that by opening the last negotiating chapter in the months ahead, Montenegro will once again confirm its leadership position, but also give a new impetus to the integration process, not only in the country but also in the countries of the region. The goal is to confirm the credibility of the European perspective of the Western Balkans.

Darmanović noted that the opening of Chapter 27 is very important, as the Constitution of 2007 defined Montenegro as an ecological state, dedicated to environmental protection and development based on sustainability principles. He highlighted that the process of European integration is the only framework that guarantees stability in the region and thus in Europe. “That is why we are sure that the presence of the EU in the region and the continuity of the enlargement policy are of fundamental importance for stability, further economic development and the competitiveness of the European continent at a global level," Darmanović concluded.

Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulović stressed that the State is committed to protecting the environment. He said that the Government of Montenegro established the Environmental Protection Fund (Eco Fund) in late November in order to create the legal framework for future investments in the field of environment and climate change.

European Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn also spoke at the opening of negotiations in Chapter 27, saying that Montenegro is making a significant step forward on its “European path”. He also welcomed the progress in the rule of law and said that the focus, in the coming period, should be placed on the activities under negotiating chapters 23 and 24. Commissioner Hahn reiterated that the European Commission will continue to support the integration of Montenegro into the EU in terms.

December 9, 2018 - A special police team working with the Special State Prosecutor's Office has asked the Kotor Municipality to submit the complete documentation regarding the procedures of local government in connection with the issuance of building permits for investors, the company "A-Y Montenegro" from Kotor.

"Dragan Radonjić, leader of the team as per the instructions by SDT on November 15^th, requested from the Municipality of Kotor insight into the complete documentation and files of the cases related to the administrative procedure in relation to the application for issuing construction permits to the company “A-Y Montenegro”. "From this, I assume that this investor filed a criminal complaint against me to SDT because these permits have not been issued to them till today," said the Mayor of Kotor Vladimir Jokić (Democrats).

"AY Montenegro" submitted in September or November 2016 a total of eight requests to the Kotor municipality for the issuance of construction permits on the plots owned by that company in Kostanjica, and requested the approval to construct as many as thirty new residential tourist and auxiliary facilities, a total area of almost 8,700 square meters. They asked for this, referring to the controversial, amended DUP Kostanjica from 2009, which on the then untouched area from the Turkish cap to Kostanjica, is registered dozen of new objects of "tourist purpose". This DUP was brought to the time when Kotor was the ruled by the local DPS-SDP authority for the mandate of Mayor Marija Ćatović.

Boka Kotorska – photo Boka News 2018.

In 2009, the Regional Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments gave a negative opinion on the proposal of amendments to the DUP Kostanjica, but the opinion, however, was expressed after the deadline of 15 days of how long the institutions have to send their approval on the proposed planning document. Therefore, the Municipality of Kotor, managed by Ćatović at that time, adopted DUP Kostanjica, formally declaring that the Institute did not pronounce its opinion within the deadline, which is considered to be a tacit consent. In the meantime, according to this planning document, several tens of thousands of square meters of housing facilities in Kostanjica have already been built, which has already destroyed the image on the islands of Our Lady of the Rocks and St. George from Perast. UNESCO warned that further construction in this area would certainly jeopardize the survival of Kotor in the list of protected sites of the world's natural and cultural heritage under the UNESCO patronage.

Kotor – photo Boka News

The current ruling coalition made by the Democrats-DF-URA-SDP, with the parliamentary support of the SNP, was put in an unenviable position because the government allegedly trying to keep Kotor on the UNESCO list, and a year ago introduced a moratorium on a new construction in Kotor Bay, but simultaneously, through the mouth of Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulovic (DPS), told the local authorities to "act by law" and issue all the building permits for which the requests were submitted before the entry into force of the moratorium. Among them are the demands for some very controversial projects that, according to the UNESCO expert's viewpoint, could jeopardize the status of Kotor as natural and cultural heritage, especially in the area of Kostanjica, Dobrota, and Glavati.

"The purpose of all this with the SDT is now to put pressure on me to issue these building permits to this investor," Jokic said, reminding that in the meantime, Minister Radulovic recommended Jokic in several public appearances "that these permissions should be rejected", and such opinion was signed even publicly in front of RTCG cameras by the then director of the Directorate for the Protection of Cultural Property Anastazija Miranovic, when the Mayor of Kotor offered it to her.

None of the leaders of the state, except Radulovic who officially said that he "acted according to the law," did not respond to the letter of the mayor Vladimir Jokic, who in December 2017, from Prime Minister Dusko Markovic, the president of the Assembly, Ivan Brajovic, the then president of the state, Filip Vujanovic, and several other competent state institutions, demanded that the state takes a stand on the issue of further construction on the locations identified as critical ones by UNESCO, including Kostanjica. The government also ignored the invitation to the Council for the Management of the Natural and Cultural-Historical District of Kotor, which in January asked the Government to urgently, at its next session, to take a position what the Municipality of Kotor should do regarding the application for issuing construction permits for the new mammoth construction in the area of Kostanjica. The same request to the Government in March was also unsuccessful, sent by SO Kotor. The approval of such construction would definitely bring Kotor out of the list of protected heritage, which would have unreasonable negative consequences for both the town of Kotor and the state of Montenegro.

Vladimir Jokić – photo Boka News

"We are asking the state and all competent institutions to get involved in resolving the issue of Kostanjica. This is not a question of today's coalition government in Kotor, nor the authorities that will come tomorrow. This is the issue of preserving the space that we have to keep, this is the issue of preserving Kotor on the UNESCO list. The "permanent silence" of the state is astounding. I think it is time that we in this town finally get an answer to the question of whether the state of Montenegro intends to preserve the status of Kotor on the UNESCO list or not. Both of them are legitimate, but we need to know where we are "- mayor Jokic said at a session of the SO in March this year. He called on the state to "stand by its authority and power" on behalf of the town.

"What I assure you is that even if the state remains silent if the legal procedure does not change drastically, the Municipality of Kotor, while I am at its head and while this team is in the local executive power, will not allow such a devastation of space. We will not allow someone to mock at what has remained in the heritage of this generation to be protected," Jokic concluded. 

Gospa od Škrpjela (Lady of the Rocks) and Kostanjica March 2018.

The 'fruits' of his decision to not allow the further continuation of the destruction of Kostanjica, and to preserve Kotor for UNESCO, Jokic brought in front of SDT led by Milivoje Katnic, who sent a special police team to Kotor to inspect all the documents regarding the requests by the company “A-Y Montenegro”. In the meantime, this company appealed first to the Chief Administrator of the Municipality, and then to the Administrative Court, which ordered the Municipality to "decide upon the request" for building permits. Since the permits have not been received even to this day, "A-Y Montenegro" has addressed Katnić.

Text by S.L., on December 8th, 2018, read more at Boka news

07 December 2018 - "The Government of Montenegro does not envisage any additional measures of fiscal consolidation other than those established in 2017, but next year we will focus on improving tax environment, further economic growth and employment increase," Minister of Finance Darko Radunović said introducing the 2019 Draft Budget Law, which was adopted last night by the Government. 

By presenting the budget for the next year, the Minister reminded that the Government of Montenegro started the fiscal policy in the past two years with the implementation of the Plan for reduction of the budget deficit and the public debt, supplemented by the Government's 2017-2020 Fiscal Strategy, taking care that they do not slow down the economic growth, nor endanger the socially most sensitive segments of society. 

"The following indicators show that the measures were well balanced: a strong economic growth of 4.7 percent in 2017, and 4.8 percent in the first half of 2018, with a projection of 4.1 percent by the end of the year, an increase in Montenegrin GDP per capita to 46 percent of the EU average and an increase in the number of employees by nearly 11,000 in relation to 2016, the regularity of payment of wages, pensions, social benefits (with the growth of certain categories), strengthening of the international investment position of Montenegro reflected through the improvement of the credit rating and the most successful issue of eurobonds aimed at refinancing part of the public debt, as well as obtaining the World Bank Policy-Based Guarantee, which is also important for refinancing the part of the public debt and establishing its declining trend," the Minister of Finance said.

The Minister of Finance expressed the belief that every Montenegrin family had the opportunity to see and feel something from the numerous activities that the Government undertook in an effort to improve the quality of life - either through subsidies from agriculture, scholarship or free education for thousands of students, through the possibility for citizens to take medicine for free that they may have had to pay earlier or more easily travel with time and fuel savings, some of the reconstructed roads through Montenegro. 

Speaking of the proposed budget for 2019, the Minister of Finance and acting General Director of the State Budget Directorate Bojan Paunović stated that budget revenues increased by around 190.7 million as estimated for 2018 (or 12.2 percent compared to 2017); that the budget deficit was reduced from 5.5 percent of GDP in 2017 to an estimated 3.8 percent of GDP in 2018 and that a surplus of current consumption was achieved.

The Minister emphasised that this year we have the largest capital budget in Montenegro since the renewal of independence – 320.93 million EUR and that most of that money is foreseen for the Northern region. 

"The 2018 Draft Budget Law envisages the total amount of receipts and expenditures of EUR 2,384 billion or 50% of GDP. This is less about the rebalance for 2018. The budget for 2019 is characterized by faster revenue growth than expenditures (i.e. controlled expenditure growth and further changes in their structure), thereby reducing the deficit to 142.3 million euros or 2.97 percent of GDP. The current budget spending in 2019 will be fully financed from the original income, and a current consumption surplus of 197 million euros will be generated. This meets one of the basic requirements for fiscal policy planning. Continuing a rational attitude towards budget spending is important. We have achieved an excellent surplus of current consumption this year; I think that we have the opportunity to achieve an even better result next year," Finance Minister Darko Radunović said. 

The Minister, concluding the presentation of the proposed budget for 2019, assessed that its main characteristics are: 

• The growth of original income by 71 million EUR about 2018; 
• Optimization of current budget spending 
• Increasing investments in infrastructure projects through the most significant amount of the Capital Budget since gaining independence (320 million EUR); 
• Increasing allocations for education, sports, agriculture, entrepreneurship; 
• Reducing the need for loans, i.e. reducing the missing funds to 556 million EUR (out of which 180 million EUR refers to deposits already available); 
• The regularity of performing all public functions of the state (payments of pensions, social benefits, etc., with increase according to legal harmonization); 
• Payroll regularity, with an increase in salaries of current public sector employees by 10.9 million EUR. 

"Therefore, the 2019 Draft Budget Law is an expression of economic policy measures aimed at strengthening fiscal stability by implementing fiscal consolidation measures; support of competitiveness and development, as well as the regularity of performing all public functions in order to ensure sustainable growth of the economy, which helps further increase of the living standard of citizens" Minister Radunović concluded.