From April 15th to April 25th, at the 24th edition of the Herceg Novi April Theater Festival (HAPS), under the motto "HAPS as a Challenge", seven theater performances from the country and the region will be shown, as well as the film "Perfetti Sconcsciuti" (Perfect Strangers). According to the selector of the festival, Milina Kovacevic, the concept of this year's HAPS was designed as a comparison of artistic thoughts and challenges for the audience.

"The concept aims to compare the film "Perfect Strangers" according to the original script with the theater adaptation of the play "Black Box", by Niksic Theater. The aim is to compare two versions of the same text - to notice the differences in direction, character interpretation, space projection and other solutions in the play "Ice Cream" – by the Croatian playwright Miro Gavran, in the performance of a private theater from Zagreb and the recent exhibition of the National Theater from Nis. The goal is to compare two readings of the same template in the "Empire's New Clothes", i.e., the drama play for adults and children," says, among others, Kovacevic, explaining that the concept of comparisons leaves the audience to compare what the artists think about capitalism and how they put it before different age groups".

Kovacevic further explains that they simply imagined the situation in which the viewer is ambitious and as such wants to look at both proposed versions.

"We have designed a version where parents and children share a ticket package for two versions of one piece. We imagined that the viewer would present the ticket for a performance by HAPS to a friend, as an invitation to meet and talk," explains the selector of the festival, Milina Kovacevic.

HAPS will be opened with the play "Black Box" by Niksic Theater on Monday, April 15^th at 8.30 pm, according to the text by Ana Đordjevic, referring to the film "Perfect Strangers". Directed by Goran Bulajic, and cast is: Simo Trebjesanin, Gordana Micunovic, Jovan Krivokapic, Anja Drljevic, Omar Bajramspahic, Marija Djuric, Nikola Vasiljevic, while on the second night of HAPS, thanks to the Embassy of Italy in Montenegro and Stars Media International Belgrade, the film "Perfetti Sconcsciuti" by Paolo Genovese, will be shown, and the entrance is free.

On Wednesday, April 17^th, on the repertoire will be the play "Ice Cream" by the Theater "Gavran" from Zagreb, according to Miro Gavran's text and directed by Boris Svrtan, which features Mladen Gavran and Ana Vilenica, and on April 19th the audience will be able to see the play "Capital" of the Royal Theater "Zetski dom" Cetinje, the dramatization of the work by Karl Marx, signed by Vedrana Bozinovic, directed by Andras Urban. The cast is Jelena Laban, Jelena Sestovic, Pavle Prelevic, Stevan Vukovic while the musicians are Milivoje Picuric piano, Jovan Bjelica guitar, Blazo Tatar drums, and Vedran Zekovic bass guitar.

Already on Saturday, April 20th, in the morning from 10 a.m., "Kapital" will be played by the children of the Royal Theater "Zetski dom "Cetinje", which is the author's project by Petar Pejakovic and Dusan Muric. In this performance is Aleksandar Popovic, Marija Jovicevic, Aleksandra Sovran, Marija Pobor, Anastasija Sovran, Ivana Popović, Anita Jankovic, Vasilije Djukanovic, David Vukovic, Prorokovic Djordjije, Milica Andric, Filip Ivanovic, Andrej Lipovina, Radovic Milica, Marija Andric, Doroteja Buskovic, Dorotea Roganović, Nikoleta Tatar, Kristijan Kadija and Maja Marković. On the same day, at 7 pm, Bitef Theater Belgrade will play "Carevo novo odelo", a dance performance by Bitef dance company. The text and direction are signed by Jelena Kajgo, music by Aleksandra Djokic and choreography by Dejan Volarev. The cast includes Slaven Doslo, Sara Tasic, Una Vujosevic, Jaksa Filipovac, Helena Celap, Una Djuricic, Anja Milosavljevic, Nikola Zivkovic and Natalija Djecevic.

The theater audience will once again have a chance to see the play "Ice cream" by Miro Gavran on April 23^rd at 8.30 p.m., but this time in the performance of the National Theater from Nis. The director is Spasoje Z. Milovanovic and Ivana Nedovic and Nadja Nedovic Tekinder are the main acts. HAPS will be closed on April 25^th with the performance of the Herceg Novi Theater and JUK Herceg Festival "Carevo novo odelo" in the dramatization of Djordje Stanojlovic, Petar Pejakovic, Goran Slavic, Dejan Djonovic, Milos Pejovic, and Vladimir Milosevic and directed by Petar Pejakovic. The main acts are Dejan Djonović, Milos Pejovic, Goran Slavic, Slavisa Grubisa. Since the start date of the festival coincides with the date of the great earthquake that hit Montenegro and Herceg Novi 40 years ago, one segment of the accompanying program will be dedicated to this event, primarily through the project Earthquake.me by Dr Vuk Vukovic. HAPS whose programs, like in the previous years, will be organized in the Hall Park and this year is the result of the cooperation between JUK Herceg Festival and Herceg Novi Theater, supported by Herceg Novi Municipality and sponsors.

Text by D.Djonovic, on April 9th, 2019, read more at CdM

08 April 2019 - At the second Digital Summit of the Western Balkans, held last week in Belgrade, the Municipality of Herceg Novi was presented by the Vice-President Danijela Đurović. She took active participation at the panel Digitization as a driver of local socio-economic development.

"Local governments play a key role in the digitization of services because they can make their complete availability and the easiest use for every member of the society," Đurović pointed out.

In this regard, the presentation by Vice President Đurović at the Digital Summit of the Western Balkans focused on examples from real life, precisely the concrete ways in which the Municipality of Herceg Novi used digital development for the modernization of the work of the public administration.

One of these services is "System 48", which allows citizens to apply, send a request or inquiry to the local government by invitation, message, email or through the website. In addition to the existing Civic Bureau, a branch office was opened on the Riviera, which is connected to the central system. The tourist organization has introduced with electronic cards that connect the offer of the city, provide discounts for tourists and easier information with QR code. The town is also constantly working on the best coverage of the city with free internet. Another example that Đurović referred to is the "Find & Park" concept, which plans to implement the Parking Service.

"As one might feel, the focus of introducing such services is "bringing local government closer, better communication, easier aging of rights and fulfilling obligations"," Đurović said.

In addition to Đurović, Darko Mrvaljević and Boran Ivanoski from NALAS (Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe) spoke on the panel on digitization as a driver for the development of local communities.

The Digital Summit, which brought together about 3,000 participants from 30 economies of the Western Balkans, Europe and the world, was opened by Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Marija Gabriel and the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunications Union Houlin Gao.

The Digital Summit was initiated by the Multi-annual Action Plan for Regional Economic Cooperation within the framework of the Berlin Process, an initiative aimed at improving regional cooperation, and the first such meeting took place last year in Skopje.

08 April 2019 - Volleyball Club Budva won the Montenegrin Cup after defeating Jedinstvo Franca 3-0 (25:16, 25:19, 25:22) in the grand finale in the Mediterranean Sports Center. Players of the Volleyball Club Budva returned the volleyball cup trophy to this city.

All of this was made possible thanks to the new club - a club originated with the desire to return the volleyball trophy to the capital of Montenegrin tourism, which disappeared with the closing of the most successful Montenegrin volleyball club, the Budva Riviera.

In addition to the defeat in the Cup final, the team of Darko Prebiračević was eliminated in the semi-finals of the playoffs from Budućnost Capital Plaza, with two maximal defeats. In the decisive matches in the season, the team from Bijelo Polje could not count on Montenegrin national player Luka Šuljagić because of his illness.

Volleyball Club Budva will have the opportunity to win the double crown, and the final series against Budućnost, to three victories, will start on April 13th.

As far as the match is concerned, starting from the first set, there were no dilemmas about who would come out victorious.

Budva started with 5:0, which played without injured captain Jovan Delić, and continued to 8:2. Jedinstvo returned to 13:11, but the host scored with six points in a row for 19:11 which was too much for their opponent.

The second set was pretty equal until the score of 16:14 for Budva, when the host team scored 4 points in a row for 20:14 which eventually gave them the set.

It seemed that Jedinstvo in the third set would prolong the uncertainty. The team from Bijelo Polje opened this set better than the other ones, quickly scored 6:11, followed by 12:18 and at this point everyone thought that the fourth set was already on its way.

However, the team from Budva did not give up, and with 5 consecutive points, they first reduced their opponents' lead at 15:18, and then switched from 15:19 to 21:19. The guests held until 22:21, when Budva reached the first match point with two consecutive points. This match point was defended by the team from Bijelo Polje, but the other one was at 24:22, when the young Ivan Zvicer scored the match winner.

Alen Didović with 16 points was the best in the winning team, Ivan Urtado and Zvicer added 10, Dejan Jocić 9. The best in the defeated team was Bojan Strugar with 16 points.

Technician Shun Imamura was named the best player of the men's final.

08 April 2019 - During the first week of April, the Agency for the Development and Protection of Orjen has launched a promotional hiking tour within the Nature Park Orjen. The hiking tour, named Treasure from the Heart of Orjen, follows a route from the Vrbanj Adventure Park to the foot of the Subrin Amphitheatre, i.e. the Snow Cave and includes the incredible presentation of cocktails Zmajevo ždrijelo (English: Dragon’s Throat) and Gorski Sladoled (English: Mountain Ice Cream) created with the snow which piles up in the pit all year round.

The special guest of the first promotional tour was a blogger from Australia, Mikki, who resides in Herceg Novi, who otherwise runs the blog Snooze And Explore, and she described this fantastic experience in a post titled Discovering the Distinctive Beauty of Orjen Mountain.

In addition to the launched promotional hiking tour from the Vrbanj Adventure Park to the foot of Subrin Amphitheatre, the Orjen Agency for Development and Protection is planning to launch another hiking tour within the Orjen Nature Park, which will be organised on the Orjen saddle and symbolically carry the name "Carev put" (The Road of Tzar). The tour was named after the road that was built by the Imperial Austro-Hungarian Army. In addition to an enjoyable lazing around and sunbathing at Orjen pool, the Road of Tzar journey will include a tour of the abandoned Austro-Hungarian construction site and presentations of cocktails and ice cream named "Orjen" and "Prinčev sladoled" (English: Prince’s Ice Cream), which will be made in the cave of Sniježnica.

The representatives of the Agency for Development and Protection of Orjen emphasize that the scheduled bus line Herceg Novi - Vrbanj started operating from the first weekend in April for all the locals from Herceg Novi as well as for guests staying in the city. The line will be operated on Saturdays and Sundays with departure from the main bus station at 09:15 am and 03:30 pm, while the return from Vrbanj is scheduled for 10:00 am and 04:15 pm. The Agency invites all interested individuals to visit the Adventure Park and spend a day or weekend in the Nature Park Orjen.

04 April 2019 - Prime Minister Duško Marković and representatives of the renowned Dutch shipbuilding company Damen Kommer Damen and Porto Montenegro Mohammed Al-Shaibaniagreed said at a meeting in Bijela that the project of the transition of the former shipyard into the service of luxury yachts is successfully developing in accordance with plans, that it represents a new aspect of Montenegro's development, and that it is expected that the new industry will employ up to 450 workers when it is in full operation. 

Representatives of Damen, which employs 10,000 people in 35 shipyards on five continents, build 160 vessels every year and generates an annual turnover of two billion euros, presented a plan for the transition of the former shipyard. The plan is to rebuild 14 yachts in the first season 2020/2021, while in the fifth and sixth year they expect to reach full capacity - 100 yachts a year with an average employment of more than 400 people. 

"That means we need a lot of employees. We want to find out as quickly as possible whether people from Montenegro are looking forward to work. We want to provide training for interested people in our shipyards in Northern Europe and to organise a training programme in Bijela," representatives of the Damen Group told Prime Minister Marković.

Prime Minister Duško Marković stressed that, after visiting the site, he is thrilled with what he saw, having in mind that it is one of the projects that changes the Montenegrin economy. 

"I have been waiting for this moment for a long time, and today I feel fine. There were challenges, but we overcame them together. This project is important for the whole of Montenegro because it changes the whole philosophy of our development. With this project, we first solve the issue of the environment and open up a new clean industry. At the same time, we connect our tourism industry and industry. That is why this is a new era in the economic development of Montenegro. This needs to be understood by every state administration official. Any limitations will be overcome. Here I see a perspective for young people and that is why I am pleased that Damen is here. We need your experience and your know-how more than money. You will enjoy the full support of the Government," Prime Minister Duško Marković underlined at the meeting. 

In the context of the importance of development based on clean technologies, the Prime Minister recalled that the Government allocated EUR 50 million for remediation of five locations: the former shipyard in Bijela, solid waste dumps and red sludge pools in the former Aluminum Plant, the abandoned mine shafts of Šuplja stijena and the coal ash and slug from Maljevac dump. 

After the meeting, leaders of the Damen Group and Porto Montenegro, who on 30 November 2018, signed with the Government the concession agreement for the Shipyard in Bijela, with the aim of transforming the former shipyard into a service of luxury yachts, shared the optimism. 

Chairman of the Damen Shipyards Group Kommer Damen expressed his special gratitude to the Prime Minister for engaging in this project. 

"I am very grateful that with the assistance of the Government of Montenegro, and especially the Prime Minister, we have made progress in cleaning the Shipyard and that we are likely to start operations in March 2020," Kommer Damen said following the meeting.

Executive Director and Member of the Board of Directors of Porto Montenegro David Margason said that he is thrilled by the fact that, after a long preparation, the remediation and the beginning of the shipyard transition are finally underway. 

"I am very pleased that our investment in tourism in the last ten years has finally brought new investments into this business," said David Margason. 

The Prime Minister also spoke with Executive Director of the Investment Corporation of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Porto Montenegro Mohammed Al-Shaibani. 

The meeting discussed the plans for further development of Porto Montenegro as one of the most important tourist resources of our country, as well as plans for expanding the tourist offer. 

31 March 2019 - Montenegrin Public Company for Coastal Zone Management has recently requested access to documentation in regards to the conditions for the reconstruction of several areas located at the coast in Herceg Novi: from Sutorina, via Topla, to parts of the swimming area near the Hospital in Meljine, near Cape Sveta Neđelja and Jošice in Bijela.

As reported by TVCG, the estimated value of these investments is close to three million euros. Precise investments and their full amount will be publicly announced after the creation of all documentation for each site individually.

At this stage, the estimates are based on urban planning conditions and investment proposals for development projects, according to the representatives of the Coastal Zone Management Company.

According to assessments of the Coastal Zone Management Company, the reconstruction of the beach Njivice will require 80.000 EUR, the reconstruction of the beach area near the restaurant Mimoza (next to the beach Rafaelo) will cost about 900.000 EUR, the reconstruction works at beach Roki sport will require 220.000 EUR, Ćorović beach renovations will cost 650.000 EUR, beach at Savina 150.000 EUR, the reconstruction of the beach in front of hotel Delfin in Bijela needs 450.000 EUR, while the renovation process at the beach Igrač više in Bijela will cost about 120.000 EUR. Investment funds in regards to the reconstruction of several smaller beaches on the Riviera were estimated at 390 thousand EUR.

As reported by TVCG, Public Company for Coastal Zone Management will conduct administrative procedures for obtaining approval from the Government for tendering, and the enterprise will produce individual investment programs for each beach and perform monitoring and cooperation with investors, in the stage of obtaining a construction permit and at the stage of realization.

"The aim of these activities of the Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management is to provide full legality in the process of realization of development projects as well as to provide expert assistance to the investors-beneficiaries of the coastal area. In terms of the number of funds invested, the investors have a long-term period for the use of newly built beaches, ranging from 15 to 30 years ", they point out from this Public Company.

The price of the location for investment projects will be determined on the tender, and based on "historical prices achieved in the previous period", the representatives of the Coastal Zone Management Enterprise explained.

March 31, 2019 - The adventure park on Vrbanj, after the winter break, will again be open for visitors from 1 April, and the entrance will be free until 1 May. According to Milja Vitorović, director of the Orjen Protection and Development Agency, who is managing the Adventure Park, they are undergoing the preparations.

27 March 2019 - There are many reasons why you'd want to visit Montenegro, the most beautiful coastline, dramatic history, the mountains that rear up to meet the sea and a crystal clear bay. Still, this country has recently worked on significant improvements in the number and quality of hotels, so now is a great time to visit this Mediterranean gem and enjoy the luxury that leads to a perfect holiday.

According to the recent data published by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, the number of hotels in Montenegro in 2018 increased by 25.

The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism stated that the newly opened facilities that have 1985 units in total are mostly luxury high-class hotels.

Within the reports by the Ministry, it is explained that six new hotels built in 2018 have a service that meets five star standards and nine hotels have four stars. In the total number of new hotels, 24% of all units meet the requirements of five-star services, and 36% meet those of the four-star hotels.

"The number of beds in five-star hotels is 50,48 per cent of the total unit number, and the beds in four-star hotels make up 21 per cent of the total number of beds in hotels that started working in 2018," the Ministry's document said.

The newly opened hotels include Perla Residence (Podgorica), Hotel Rivijera – Iberostar (Herceg Novi), Hotel Jadran – Iberostar (Perast), Hotel Holliday Village Montenegro (Ulcinj), Hotel Chedi – Luštica Bay (Tivat) and Hotel Lazaret (Herceg Novi).

Furthermore, when it comes to the categories that foreign tourists at the global level mostly look for in Montenegro, eight hotels have three stars and two facilities have two stars.

The Ministry believes that the growth of the structure of accommodation capacities of high category, as the most important segment of the tourist product, has been particularly contributed by numerous stimulus measures.

These stimulus measures include the abolition of the obligation to pay utility bills for building a four and five star hotel, reducing annual real estate tax to 30 per cent for hotels with four stars, reducing annual real estate tax up to 70 per cent for five-star hotels in priority tourist sites, and lifting the obligation to pay an import VAT for products and services related to the construction of five-star hotels and a low VAT rate of only 7 per cent for hotel accommodation.

26 March 2019 - The Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone of Montenegro in cooperation with the Municipality of Budva plans to deal with the most valuable walking space in this town - promenade from Budva to Bečići and to solve this through the development of a quality permanent plan, said Predrag Jelušič director of this public enterprise. He expects the project to be estimated at 10 million EUR.

The Coastal Zone of Montenegro is planning to invest significant funds for international competition tender for the selection of the best architectural and visual solution of the Lungo Mare promenade, from Sole Mio in Budva to Plavi kamen in Rafailovići.

"It will be a very challenging job for both companies and local government. I believe that we will all be equally committed to choosing a quality solution because Lungo Mare promenade should have a completely different form and a different tourist offer," said Jelušić.

He believes that after the promenade in Tivat and Pet Danica in Herceg Novi, and the promenades in Čanje and Sutomore, now it is Budva's turn to reconstruct its own.

"I believe that Budva is ready to reconstruct this space in a quality way and that this will become a permanent solution that will be full for at least nine months of the year. This way promenade will have its own life and suitable premises that will be able to promote tourist offer and application on its own. Budva will gather many more tourist in this way for both the town and for Montenegro," pointed out Jelušić.

He also added that the perfect example of how Montenegrin coast should look alike and the model for other coastal towns to look into is promenade in Tivat.

"This project will be financially demanding, but it will also be a big benefit to hotel chains in the area, such as the hotel group Budvanska rivijera and other venues that are in the interest of making the promenade according to the most up-to-date standards," stressed out Jelušić.

"I am expecting full commitment from local tourism organizations, because management of this destination is crucial for our city. The tourists want to see every city segment working at its best, from parking to horticulture," Jelušić concluded.

25 March 2019 - The members of the Majorette Club Lili returned from Podgorica from the state championship in dance with seven gold medals, and thus became state champions in the categories of juniors, cadets and bees, as well as in formations “senior solo stick”, “senior solo pom pon” , “cadet solo stick” and “cadets duo pom pon”.

The Majorette Club Lili also received the Special Thank-You-Note from the Dance Association of Montenegro for an outstanding contribution to the promotion and development of dance in the past year.

Thirty-five girls and young women from this majorette club aged 5 to 23 years old who worked hard in the past couple of months on practicing choreography, presented their skills in front of an expert jury and won the “National Champions” title.

The competition organized by the International Dance Organization IDO Montenegro gathered 17 dance clubs with around 170 choreographies. The Majorette Club Lili now plans to give their champion girls a few days of rest to celebrate their great success, after which they will continue with work and preparations for the future performances and competitions. The most significant is undoubtedly the appearance at the European Majorettes Championship in August in France, where the girls will represent Herceg Novi and Montenegro, as they have for the past five years.

In five years of existence, the Majorette club "Lili" has won numerous acknowledgments and awards, including eight European medals, and their favourite one is their very first medal. “We have plenty of medals from state championships and international competitions; so many that we lost count. There are probably around 40 in different categories. The biggest prizes that are the most meaningful to us are eight European medals. Although we look forward to every prize, we always emphasize that our first European medal is somehow the most desirable," said the club’s choreographer.