03 May 2019 - At the end of September 2019, Herceg Novi could host a birthday celebration of the largest carnival family in the world, FECC - Dies Natalis 2019, if the Montenegrin presentation wins over Italy and Macedonia, which also submitted their presentations.

The final decision will be made after the presentation, which will be held at the end of June at the convention of the Federation of European Carnival Cities - FECC, in the Turkish city of Yalova.

The president of the NGO Maškare, Ivan Peulić recently spoke with the members of the International Board of FECC, Budva Municipality President, Marko Bato Carević and representatives of the Tourist Organization of Budva on the topic of following 17th International Travel Carnival Festival.

"Support has certainly come from representatives of the FECC of Montenegro. At the convention in Turkey, we will present Herceg Novi and Montenegro as possible destinations of this event. An official meeting was held today at Hotel Alexander with FECC president Lars Algel. The meeting was also attended by FECC President Montenegro Branko Đurica, Vice President of the International Board of FECC Josip Silov, as well as members of the board Aleksandar Cicimov and Aleksandar Vasović," said Peulić for Radio Jadran.

He is convinced that Herceg Novi could be the host of this event, because there is a great chance for this to happen.

"A good "basis" for this is our jubilee Feast of Mimosa, after which there are plenty of positive impressions, and we must try to design a better programme for this weekend and present Herceg Novi as a desirable destination. The birthday of FECC every year moves to another country. As far as I know now, we have a better impression compared to Italy and Macedonia, and I hope that 25 nations will support the convention." pointed out Peulić.

The Herceg Novi Municipality already accepted the proposal and unofficially supported the candidacy in March during the Mimosa Feast, while the support was provided by the Directorate of the 50th Feast of Mimosa, the President of the Municipality, Stevan Katić and Vice President Miloš Konjević.

"Maškare" are also participating in the 17th International Travel Carnival and 18th Spring Night under Masks.

"The carnival officially began last night, the programme on the streets of Budva, the restaurant and cafes that were full of food. Abrum was led by Carnival Director Marija Pjerotić and a delegation from the International Board of FECC. The carnival atmosphere already staggered last night with numerous masks that continued the party in the old town's streets. "Satiri" is one of 72 carnival groups from Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro," concluded Peulić.

At 7.30 PM a large carnival rally from the main Post Office to the Square of the Painter is planned, and at 11.30 PM "The Carnival Show" is scheduled. Programme leaders and hosts will be members of The Books of Books.

03 April 2019 - Traditional festival May Carnival Evenings marks the beginning of the summer tourist season in Budva, and visitors of the festival so far were all amazed by the program content full of thematic nights, theatrical performances, dance workshops and most importantly, great atmosphere!

The organizers of the event, Budva Municipality, Budva Tourism Organization and the non-governmental organization “Feštađuni”, announced an exciting and varied entertainment program for all residents and guests of Montenegro, and have kept their word.

"We want the May Carnival Evenings to become a manifestation that will properly open the tourist season in the city that creates more than half of Montenegro's tourist product. It is a great pleasure to have included a large number of different organizations and that Budva perceives this manifestation as its own," said Veselin Marković, Vice President of Budva Municipality.

During the first five days of the Carnival, events that took place included the Bikers’ evening, Folklore, Zumba and Salsa nights and music of various genres. Bikers’ evening marked the first evening of the Carnival, and on this occasion, the audience enjoyed rock sounds from various bands who competed for the main three prizes of the Rock Competition.

The stars of the festival were high-quality performers from the Balkans: YU Grupa on May 30 within the Bikers’ night, Sanja Ilić and Balkanika on May 1 within the Evening of Folklore, Jelena Rozga on May 2 within the Zumba and Salsa Evening. May 3 was marked with masks which traditionally invited citizens and tourists to the feast, while the citizens, in return, offered traditional gastronomic specialties in front of their homes as an act of hospitality and welcome. This performance was followed by the sounds from brass orchestra and The Group.

On May 4, the Big Masquerade Parade will take place on the streets of Budva, in which more than 2000 carnival groups from more than fifteen countries will take part, including Cuba, Spain, Italy, Austria, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Turkey and other countries of the world.

On Sunday, May 5, 2019, a children's carnival procession will take place in Budva, which begins at 4.30 pm and on the same day, while various dance groups and the Amadeus ballet studio are also scheduled to perform.

May 3, 2019 - Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Pavle Radulović, said in the interview for NOVA M TV that the idea of Montenegro as an elite destination is slowly becoming a reality.

He spoke about the biggest challenges in tourism.

“We’ve solved the problem with noise – regulation that limits it enters into force on 1st May. We’re working on the improvement of the overall infrastructure”, said Mr Radulović.

As far as the facilities on the promenade in Budva are concerned, the Minister says:

“They have been there for 30 years. When they have nothing else to do, people tend to politicize things”.

Another subject that brought the sector of tourism into the focus of media attention was the situation on the Tara river and the construction of the highway. The Minister stresses that all standards are being met, with regular and constant monitoring.

“There are not any discrepancies between the river and the highway”, says Mr Radulović.

He concludes that we are gradually achieving the objective set a long time ago – Montenegro is becoming a high-quality tourist destination.

Text by CdM on May 2, 2019, read more here. 

02 April 2019 - Huawei, one of the global leading smartphone manufacturers, has launched an update EMUI 9.0 and used a stunning photograph of Budva within the wallpaper collection that is included in the update.

Chinese leading provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, the company Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has recently launched the upgrade to the Android-based operating system (OS) from Huawei – EMUI 9.0.

With this new update, besides numerous features in relations to battery optimisation, new gesture navigation, multi-camera API, Digital Wellbeing application and security improvements, Huawei users will receive a brand new list of wallpapers to freshen up their phone’s display appearance. The list of new Huawei EMUI 9.0 wallpapers includes a gorgeous landscape of the Old Town of Budva. This means that all Huawei users who download the latest upgrade to this operating system will have a photo of Budva on their phone!

This is a great advertisement for Budva and Montenegro because all users of phones from this manufacturer will have the opportunity to enjoy the picturesque photograph of this Montenegrin city.

“EMUI 9 provides an immersive experience with innovating performance and system speed enhancements to help you lead an intelligent life. Inspired by the freezing moments of a paint colour collision and fluttering silk, EMUI 9 features new wallpapers to reflect in-the-moment beauty and the app icons have been redesigned to be more realistic,” explains the EMUI guide on the official Huawei website.

According to the latest data, the Huawei EMUI 9.0 user interface reached 470 million active users at the daily level.

29 April 2019 - The contest of rock bands, which was supposed to be opened on April 29, named the Carnival Nights of May in Budva, was postponed to Tuesday due to poor weather.

According to the Tourist Organization of Budva, seven bands will compete for prestigious awards: "Refugee Jesus & Apostles", "Jack Lupino & The Leftovers" and "The Grupa" from Budva, bands "Esid radio" and "Winged" from Podgorica, "Štrajk Mozga" from Nikšić, and the band "Eastock" from Užice.

The three-member jury, composed of Živorad Žika Jelić, YU group frontman, Miodrag Džemo Radonjić, bass player of the former cult Montenegrin group "Makadam" and Vladimir Bulatović, the vice-president of the Municipality of Budva will select the three best bands. For the third-ranked band, a cash prize of 300 EUR is prepared, while the second prize is 500 EUR, and the winner takes 1.000 EUR.

According to the jury, the two best rock band at Carnival Nights will perform on the main stage as a pre-band "YU group" whose concert should begin at 10 PM.

The rock night will be opened by a biker rally that will start at 6 PM in front of the "Beer & Bike" club in Budva. The rally will go to Petrovac and then return to the main town square.

On Wednesday, May 1st, at noon, the concert will be held by the City Music of Budva. At 7 PM the folk dance groups from the region and Turkey will take place, while the singing choir "Grbalj" will perform at the main stage simultaneously. Folklore ensembles will perform at the main stage, and ethno-night will round up the concert of the group "Sanja Ilić and Balkanika" in the most beautiful way, which is scheduled for 10 PM.

Zumba and salsa night will be the job for Jelena Rozga and her band which is scheduled for Thursday (May 2nd), Abrum and The Band group concert for Friday (May 3rd), a large carnival rally for Saturday (May 4th) and a children's Carnival for Sunday (May 5th).

From May 2nd to 5th, DJs and local groups in the Old City, the Palais Square and the Square between the churches are planned.

During the event, the parking of vehicles on the access roads to the Old Town and the square is forbidden, while the traffic will be completely prohibited on the trip: Tre Canne - Mediterranean - The old bus station on Saturday, May 4th from 5 PM and 30 minutes, until the passage of the carnival rally, the Tourist Organization of Budva announced.

26 April 2019 - Prime Minister Duško Marković said that the development of Ulcinj is considered significant for the development of the whole of Montenegro and that Ulcinj should very soon have a place at the top of the municipalities by the level of development.

"The development perspectives of this municipality are remarkable, not only in the Montenegrin context but also wider. In the first place, we are committed to a responsible approach both at the state, and especially at the local level. And it must be not only administrative, but essential when it comes to resolving the development priorities of such a representative city. In the previous period, the State provided favourable conditions for investing in high-quality hotel capacities, and their attractiveness was additionally raised by the recent launch of the economic citizenship programme," the Prime Minister noted at the Prime Minister's questions. He assessed that the enviable tourist tradition of Ulcinj represents a reliable basis for attracting investors with a clear vision and potential, and that the Government wants such investors at the locations of former tourist facilities "Galeb", "Lido" and "Jadran"

Answering the question of Vice President of the Assembly Genci Nimanbegu on the plans for these three locations, the Prime Minister said that all three locations have so far been unsuccessful examples of potential development projects.

PM Marković welcomed MP Nimanbegu's interest to discuss the challenges in the implementation of these three projects, which in terms of expected investments have the potential to be the development milestone of Ulcinj, as well as to enrich the tourist offer and contribute to the employment of citizens.

He said that the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism in the previous period provided detailed information on the chronology of the procedures and the status of implementation of these projects. He further stated that to implement the Conclusions of the Government of Montenegro from 10 March 2016, a legal adviser was engaged to draft an analysis of the obligations of the contracting parties and the undertaken activities of both contracting parties in the case of the Galeb Hotel, which provides an overview of possible termination procedures, as well as the legal consequences of the contract termination. The opinion of the Controller related to the Agreement on the sale of the Galeb Hotel noted that the buyer paid a purchase price of 5.7 million EUR in accordance with the deadlines stipulated by the Contract, that he provided timely guarantees and fully respected the Social Programme in the amount of 1.7 million EUR, but did not implement the investment in accordance with the Investment Plan due to the delay of the local self-government in providing planning assumptions for the implementation of the project. The Municipality of Ulcinj passed the spatial planning documents six years after the date of conclusion of the Contract, which prevented the buyer from investing the amount determined by the Agreement.

"When it comes to the implementation of the Lido Hotel Purchase Agreement, the findings of the Controller confirm that in this case the buyer paid a full purchase price of 10.8 million EUR within the agreed period of time, that he respected the Social Programme, but that the investment was not implemented in accordance with the Investment Plan, among other things, due to the lack of solution for 75% of the environmental problem - the Port Milena channel," PM Marković said.

In the case of a lawsuit filed by the Public Enterprise for the Management of the Maritime Property before the Commercial Court to terminate the Long Term Rental Agreement on the location of the former Jadran Hotel, a final verdict on this case has not yet been issued, the Prime Minister said, adding that inertia of the local self-government was observed regarding the recommendations of the Government to remove objects from Cape Bratislava, in order to create conditions for the tourist valorization of this site.

Prime Minister Marković stressed that investors with a clear vision and potential are desirable in Ulcinj, and that the Government will act in partnership with all those who are willing to invest their capital in sustainable development projects. 

23 April 2019 - According to the conclusions from the first session of the Honorary Committee of the Games of the Small States of Europe 2019, chaired by the Committee Chairman Prime Minister Duško Marković, the Government of Montenegro, Podgorica Capital City, the Old Royal Capital Cetinje and the municipalities of Budva, Bar and Tivat, as well as the competent state authorities, are undertaking all necessary activities in order to organize the 13th Games of the Small States of Europe 2019, which will be held in Montenegro from 27 May to 1 June. These actions are being conducted to provide all necessary conditions for the organization of the games at the highest level, and to use them to promote Montenegro as a stable country and prestigious investment and tourist destination.

Mayors and presidents of municipalities in which the games will be held informed the Committee about the infrastructure preparation to hold the games, recognizing the importance of the competition that will gather more than 1,000 athletes, and numerous accompanying staff. They expressed their full readiness to financially contribute to the event by allocating budget funds, in addition to 605.000 EUR which the Government allocated for the event so far.

The Honorary Committee invited public companies and other sponsors to support the competition within the bounds of their possibilities, thus contributing to further affirmation of the country.

"The Games of the Small States of Europe do not only have significance in the aspect of sports. Taking into consideration that the participants of the games include small but successful countries of the European Union and since there are renowned sports organisations behind these countries, this is a real opportunity for Montenegro to present itself once again to the world in a high-quality manner and to confirm its economic, political and sporting commitments," PM Marković stressed.

The Games of the Small States of Europe, which have been held since 1985, currently bring together nine countries: Andorra, Montenegro, Iceland, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, and San Marino. The competitions are organised in athletics, bocce, volleyball, beach volleyball, basketball, swimming, judo, shooting, tennis and table tennis.

23 April 2019 - The fortress walls of the Old Town Budva, which reveal the marvellous Budva Riviera, are officially open for visitors, and the entry ticket price is two euros.

As announced from the Museums and Galleries of Budva, the price of the ticket includes a brochure about the history of the fortress wall, which interested visitors can request in English, Russian, Montenegrin and soon in the German language.

The access to the fortress walls of the Old Town Budva is currently available from 10 am to 6 pm. Starting from June 1, the working hours will be from 10 am to 8 pm.

Budva represents one of the oldest urban centres on the Adriatic, being more than 2,500 years old.

As vividly illustrated by Way to Monte, the mighty fortress wall around the Old Town Budva in Montenegro was rebuilt by the Venetians during the Renaissance after a devastating earthquake in the 17th century. The first defensive constructions of the city were erected at this location in the 9th century, and one of the ancient fortress walls was part of the Benedictine monastery that overlooked the coast. According to ancient engravings in the Museum of Budva, the city fortifications of the 16th century have six somewhat elongated towers and one round tower, between which there are stretched thick walls laid out of hewn stone. Its borders were unchanged for several centuries, as the number of residents of the city did not exceed 1000 people.

After the massive earthquake in Montenegro on April 15, 1979, Old Town Budva and its fortification wall were destroyed for the second time, and restored only later in 1987. To date, the Old Town Budva is an architectural monument of antiquity and is protected by UNESCO. The Old Town Budva is a whole open-air museum with a great number of attractions, cultural sites and historical monuments where people still live in medieval buildings of hewn stone. Its protective fortress walls are a famous tourist attraction, since the whole Budva Riviera is visible from the site. From this viewpoint, visitors can observe the modern residential part of Budva, fishing boats and luxurious yachts, various churches and temples, as well as ancient streets and ancient inner courtyards.

Narrow aisles and staircases on the fortress walls of the city are found in several places of Old Town Budva. One of these passages to the fortress is located near the gate opposite the hotel Avala. To get to it, a visitor just needs to go inside the Old Town, immediately turn left and go through the summer terrace of the Mozart restaurant.

The fortress wall has a shape of a horseshoe, which means that it is not closed and visitors cannot make a full circle around the Old Town. Despite this, they can spend a lot of time looking at the brickwork and ancient loopholes, as well as enjoy stunning panoramic views of the Adriatic Sea, the mighty rocks, the marvellous nature of Montenegro and the coastal settlements.

19 April 2019 - Hotel Group Budva Riviera finished last year with 2,6 million EUR of net profit. That is by a third better performance than in 2017. Palas, Castellastva, Aleksandar, Mogren, and Piva hotels, as well as Slovenska plaža tourist settlement, that operate within the group, have has a positive financial statement. Their profit has been by 14% higher than projected.

“Looking at the past ten-year period, the number of overnights has increased from 347.673 in 2009, to 487.357 last year. Business profit increased to 21,5 million EUR. Ten years ago, it amounted 11,5 million EUR,” reads the Information on the Performance of Companies.

Modernization and adaptation of hospitality facilities of Budva Riviera have cost more than 48 million EUR. Around 85% has been financed from the budget of the hotel group. Budva Riviera is on the White paper of the Tax Administration regarding the regularity of tax payments.

There were 487.557 overnights in the hotels of Budva Riviera last year. Hotel Aleksandar had the highest percent of overnights – 29%. Mogren and Slovenska plaža recorded the fall in the number of overnights.

Around 96% of guests were foreigners mostly from the countries of Eastern, Western and Northern Europe. There was a 30% increase in the number of guests from Northern Europe.

The group doesn’t run up any debts to the country of the municipality of Budva.

As far as the loans are concerned, the debt of Budva Riviera amounted 1,4 million EUR at the end of December last year. This hotel group falls within the category of low-indebted companies.

Budva Riviera has employed 386 persons. Average net wage amounted 500 EUR.

Yesterday the Government elected new members of the Board of Directors of Budva Riviera – Saša Radović and Petar Ivković.

Budva Riviera has been included in the Government’s Privatization Plan.

The group also owns Sveti Stefan and Miločer hotels which had been leased to Adriatic Properties company.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro

April 19, 2019 - The new music event, notable not only for this part of the Montenegrin coast and Montenegro but also for the region - the Budva Beer Fest will be held from 14 to 16 June at the FC Mogren Stadium, the organizers said at a press conference, held yesterday, 18 April, in Budva.