August 24, 2020 - Since the opening of borders with the countries of the region on August 14, at three land border crossings to Montenegro in Herceg Novi - Debeli Brijeg, Sitnica, and Kobila, traffic has been about 20% of that for the comparable period last year.

Contrary to expectations, most traffic was at the Sitnica border crossing with Bosnia and Herzegovina, especially during the weekend. There were no significant traffic oscillations at the busiest crossing with Croatia, Debeli Brijeg, and the smaller Kobila crossing - with more than 22,500 passengers and almost 8,000 vehicles last weekend.

Since the opening of the borders, 33,626 passengers and 11,634 vehicles have crossed the Sitnica border crossing, 40% of traffic figures compared to last year. This border crossing is predominantly used by the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the verification of documents and tests, depending on the number of vehicles, passengers, and time of day, takes between ten minutes to an hour or more.

As of August 15, 33,090 persons and 12,633 vehicles were registered at the Debeli Brijeg border crossing, which generated 20% of the turnover compared to the same period last year.

The least used was the Kobila border crossing, where 1,465 people and 671 vehicles entered/exited Montenegro, 90% lower than the same period last year.

According to the Border Police Department, passengers generally have the correct tests for COVID-19, so an unknown number of people have been turned back from the border crossings, not having been allowed to enter.

It is not pleasant to wait in a line of traffic in the heat, but if it is comforting, on many borders in the region and Europe, there is a wait of several hours. There are long queues at the Karavanke tunnel on the Slovenian border with Austria. Waiting to cross the border is from 6 am to 1 pm in vehicles, without food and water. This wait has been caused by the new regulation related to Covid-19, according to which every car entering Austria must be inspected.

Spource: Radio Jadran

August 21, 2020 - Montenegro has resolved to restart the Bar-Bari route, on which it ceased operating in 2016. The procurement of a roll-on/roll-off passenger ship to run from Bar to Bari is on the unique list of priority infrastructure projects in the area of maritime transport and would allow Montenegro to restart its operations on the service, which is currently run by Croatian company Jadrolinija, Dnevne Novine writes.

Bar-Bari Service

The ferry connection with Italy started operating on 18th June 1965, and has run regularly ever since, except during sanctions. However, four years ago, Montenegro was left without the ship Sveti Stefan II, which had its classification removed by inspection company Bureau Veritas. The line was taken over by Croatia, whose Jadrolinija transports passengers on the route Bar-Dubrovnik-Bari.

However, as the Strategy for the Development of the Maritime Economy for the period from 2020 to 2030 states, Montenegro is planning to procure a new passenger ship in 2022.

"The Strategy for the Development of the Maritime Economy envisages support for the procurement of a "ro-ro" passenger ship for international maritime traffic and direct regular transport of goods and passengers between Montenegro and other countries in the region. The activity is part of the Action Plan and is foreseen for delivery in 2022," the strategy explains.

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August 15, 2020 - Director of Tivat Airport Radovan Marić expects that if Aeroflot cancels flights to Tivat, it will redirect its Montenegro flights to one of its low cost companies.

He said that in the past 30 days, 899 passengers travelled by light aircraft between Belgrade and Tivat, of which the majority, around 750, travelled to Montenegro.

During this period, 246 passengers travelled by light aircraft between Russia and Tivat, most of whom were also arriving in Montenegro.

Low-cost airlines

"I believe, although I have no confirmation, that traffic between Russia and Montenegro will be redirected through one of the subsidiaries of the Russian national airline, i.e. one of Aeroflot’s low cost companies, most likely Pobeda, which would take over flights to Tivat," said Marić.

He stated that the establishment of the route between Montenegro and Russia also depends on the political relations between Montenegro and Russia.

"In general, I think that the traffic between Montenegro and Russia could be feasible," Marić said.

Some media outlets, after the NKT’s decision to open the borders for Russia, claimed that Aeroflot had completely cancelled all flights on the route from Moscow to Tivat for this year, which had been suspended since mid-March when NKT closed the borders for Russian citizens. This was denied yesterday by the Russian airline’s office in Belgrade.

"The Russian market is extremely well-disposed towards us. People from Russia have both small and larger businesses in Montenegro, and there is a long-standing tradition of coming from Russia to Montenegro. The Russians have certainly not forgotten Montenegro," Marić said.

Source: Pobjeda

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