16 April 2019 - To promote domestic products and achieve better placement through trade and tourism offer, the Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, the Capital City Podgorica and Montenegro Business Alliance have organized the Third Agricultural Fair, which will take place on Thursday, April 18 in Podgorica at the Independence Square.

The main topic of the fair is "The need for greater participation of domestic products in the supply of tourism and trade sectors". The fair starts at 11:00 am.

The Agricultural Fair is supported by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, the Ministry of Economy and the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (IPER).

"This is the third Agricultural Fair organized by the Montenegro Business Alliance just before the start of the main tourist season. The goal of organizing this event is the further promotion of domestic agricultural products, with emphasis on the need to strengthen the cooperation of agricultural producers and representatives of the tourism and commercial sector," said the representatives of Podgorica.

Such manifestations are, as explained by the organizers, an excellent opportunity to strengthen the cooperation of the tourism sector and trade with agricultural producers.

"These are special activities that require continuity to achieve the desired goal. The organizers have provided space and booths where agricultural products will be exhibited, with the note that agricultural producers are not obliged to pay any compensation," the PG Biro said.

At the Agricultural Fair 2018, around 60 participants presented their products at the Independence Square – individual producers, processing companies and their clusters. The organizers noted that this manifestation presents only a small part of what Montenegrin producers can offer when it comes to agricultural products.

“It is imperative that we all understand that choosing a domestic product means contributing to the development of the domestic economy, creation of new jobs, which will eventually raise the standard of living for all of us and development of the entire society. Thus, to reach our goal of better placement of domestic products, all sectors must make new steps, working together to achieve this goal,” the organisers explained, inviting all citizens to visit the fair and support domestic producers by purchasing organic products.

Managing Director of “Sava osiguranje”, Nebojsa Scekic and co-owner of Montenegro Stars Hotel Group, Zarko Radulovic, are the winners of the Association of Managers of Montenegro (AMM) for the most successful managers in large companies and joint stock companies.

At the award ceremony, sponsored by the Government, the chairmen of the board of directors of companies "Celebić" and “Zetagradnja”, Tomislav Celebic and Blagota Radovic were elected for entrepreneurs of the year.

The manager of the year in the category of medium-sized enterprises is the commercial director and founder of the company Simsic Montmilk, Milutin Djuranovic.

The Minister of Economy, Dragica Sekulic, said that AMM managed to become a quality partner to the Government and its ministries, and its mission, goals and activities have made it become an important partner to the state.

The government invests constant effort to make the business environment even more attractive. It seems that in the past two years we have contributed to high economic growth and I hope that through a partnership with the economy, we will do the same in the years ahead," Sekulic said.

She recalled that the Ministry supported 102 companies last year, which is 40 percent more than in 2017.

AMM President Budimir Raickovic said last year was characterized by a high five-percent gross domestic product (GDP) growth, but concerns remain about the accentuated trade deficit.

"We also hope that a high budget deficit will not cause further tax and other burdens to increase, which would harm domestic and foreign investment and economic growth," Raickovic said

The business environment, as he said, is generally upgraded, but remains a major part of his further alignment with the needs of the real sector.

Executive Director of M:tel-a, Vladimir Lucic, said that every winner deserved to be one.

"I would like to thank the Government for its excellent business environment, which contributes to our investment. Our owners have invested an additional 60 million euros in our company this year, with the desire to expand into Montenegro," Lucic said.

The AMM prize in the category of small businesses has been awarded to the co-founder and strategic leader of Logate, Ivica Tatar.

The manager of the year in micro-companies for the last year is the Executive Director of “Fashion and Beauty House Zoran”. Nikola Kovacevic, Mezon's CEO, was declared the young manager of the year.

The project manager of the year is the program director of the conference Spark.me, Vladimir Vulic. The title of the most successful female manager in public institutions, institutions and local administrations was given to the Director of staff management, Svetlana Vukovic.

AMM's award for life achievements was awarded to Slavko Drljevic and Vladimir M. Vukmirovic.

Special recognition for Management and Entrepreneurship contributions last year was presented to the founder and executive director of “Comp Comerc”, and for the area of digitization to Cikom's general manager, Vladan Tabas.

Graduates in the past year earned a total revenue of 114.3 million euros, net profit of 17.3 million euros, a total investment of 70.5 million, and run with nearly 1.6 thousand employees.

Text by MINA Business, on April 15th 2019, read more at Vijesti

April 16, 2019 - A consortium made up of Adriatic Marinas - Porto Montenegro and Damen, a global-level company engaged in shipbuilding and super-yachts, is launching a program for recruiting candidates to shipbuilding and refitting yachts that will work in the shipyard in Bijela.

For the Days of Open Doors on April 17th in Bijela (Administrative Building of the Adriatic Shipyard Bijela, 10 am - 2 pm) and April 18 in Tivat (Building of the Army House, 3 pm-7 pm), all interested candidates will have the opportunity to meet the members of the management team, and discuss the company, its plans and employment opportunities. The candidates are expected to bring several copies of their business biographies.

Companies will recruit a wide range of skilled workers: yachting workers, mechanics, pipe workers, engine engineers, carpenters, maintenance engineers, doctors and transport specialists, supervisors (by disciplines), metal workers, but remain open and familiar candidates of other professional occupations.

We are looking for candidates who will share our passion and commitment to the exciting transformation of the former Adriatic Shipyard Bijela into a new service for the maintenance and repair of yachts and mega-yachts. First of all, we are looking for worthy people full of enthusiasm, who nurture the teamwork necessary for the shipyard to embark on a new, successful period of its existence. The willingness and ability to learn and the desire to achieve the highest in their profession are a vital part of this story because that is the essence of the success of the yachting industry, says HR Manager Porto Montenegro Sandra Kapičić.

Benefits for the economy of Montenegro will be significant, as it is expected that more than 300 people will be re-employed in the shipbuilding industry. Bijela, that is, Herceg Novi and Boka Kotorska, are the historical position of this industrial sector in Montenegro, and with this project, the region will again provide recognised services of this kind to the entire Mediterranean maritime market.

The consortium is working on recruiting the initial workforce to participate in the planning and transformation of the Bijela shipbuilding facility into a new refurbishment facility, and for the possible early start of preliminary operations - the provision of certain shipyard services on the current west wing of the shipyard, while the restoration of points and yachts in the eastern part.

14 April 2019 - A total of 4.294 people with higher education in Montenegro are unemployed. Around 43% are younger than 30. However, the fact that 1.632 entrepreneurs under 35 were registered in 2018 shows that young people are looking for salvation in founding their own company.

According to Darko Kuzmanović, statistics adviser within the Employment Agency of Montenegro, most unemployed highly educated people are from Podgorica 1.206. Nikšić and Bijelo Polje follow Podgorica.

“Records of the unemployed persons counts 244 master degrees and 19 Ph.D. degrees. There are 3,154 women and 1.770 men among the unemployed,” says Kuzmanović.

As representatives of the Chamber of Commerce state, the number of small and medium enterprises where at least one owner is under 35, amounted 4.795 in 2018.

“Young people account for 17,4% of the total number of entrepreneurs. In the total number of micro, small and medium enterprises, they take part in the ownership structure with 24,7%,” said the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce.

The current economic situation recognizes entrepreneurship as one of the ways of tackling the unemployment problem. Development of entrepreneurship skills would contribute to higher employment.

“Results of the research suggest that an entrepreneurship career is very popular among young people in Montenegro. More than 60% of the young people would rather work for themselves than for an employer, 75% think that starting their own business is risky, but that entrepreneurs enjoy a social reputation, while one third thinks about entering into entrepreneurship. Young entrepreneurs often choose sectors that are easily accessible and that do not require huge initial capital,” said the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce.

Representatives of the Union of Young Entrepreneurs think entrepreneurial resources are not used enough.

“Young people in Montenegro are becoming more and more aware of the opportunities for their own business. We must identify the space for putting our ideas into action. The idea does not have to be innovative and special. It should be sustainable and real, and that is enough,” said the representatives of the Union.

However, young people are faced with so many obstacles in their efforts to develop their own business.

“Moral support and finances are the first challenges young people face. Those who have already started their business face even greater challenges. They should be taken into account before launching anything,” said the representatives of the Union.

Ministry of Economy has envisaged a special programme line for entrepreneurship development for 2019. Besides, the Chamber of Commerce provides young people with many educational activities.

“They also have Enterprise Europe Network that offers the possibility of connecting with the partners from abroad. Also, Chamber implements projects that include clusters as a good model of cooperation,” said the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro

Montenegro has made progress in the fiscal and financial sphere, it was assessed at a meeting of representatives of the Montenegrin delegation and the World Bank, and a strong expectation that a second development policy guarantee could be approved at the end of this or early next year.

Members of the Montenegrin delegation have continued talks on approving the other guarantee for development policy at a meeting with the Vice-President of the World Bank (WB) for Europe and Central Asia Cyril Muller, organized within the spring session and this financial institution and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

"It has been stated that Montenegro has made progress in the fiscal and financial sphere and a strong expectation that this arrangement could be approved by the end of this year or early next year," it was stated in the joint statement by the Central Bank (CBCG) and the Ministry of Finance.

The meeting was also about the projects implemented in Montenegro, funded by WB. At a meeting of the Montenegrin delegation headed by CBCG Governor Radoje Zugic and Minister of Finance Darko Radunovic with the Director of the European Department of the IMF, Paul Thomsen, it was noted that CBCG selected the appropriate priorities for the forthcoming period, relating to the improvement of supervision, money laundering prevention measures and strengthening and modernizing the payment system.

Radunovic presented fiscal indicators for the previous year and mid-term projections, stating that in the first two months of this year, budget revenues increased by 18.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

As he said, structural reforms, in particular, those of importance for obtaining another development policy guarantee, continued.

At a meeting with the Dutch-Belgian constituency executive director in the IMF, Antony Delanoy it was discussed the macroeconomic environment in Montenegro, the situation in the banking system and measures of fiscal consolidation.

Members of the Montenegrin delegation said that despite the problem-solving in small non-systematic banks, business indicators were improved, which contributed to the preservation of credit rating.

With the executive director of the Dutch constituency at WB, Koen Davids, the delegation talked about technical assistance programs and challenges in realizing projects funded by this financial institution. The delegation also participated in a regional workshop organized by Thomsen featuring the macroeconomic tendencies in Europe. 

"It is noted that we expect a slightly weaker growth than the previous year, but that macroeconomic fundamentals are still satisfactory. A special segment of the workshop referred to the inefficiency of state-owned enterprises, “CBCG and the Ministry of Finance reported.

Text by MINA Business, on April 14th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

13 April 2019 - For many years, "Budvanska Rivijera" has managed to preserve a strong position on the tourist map of Europe by branding its tourism product and contributing to a better position of Montenegro as a tourist destination. Breathtaking nature, supreme service, rich and imaginative cuisine, friendly hosts and the abundance of culture and entertainment events make a long-term basis for successful business operations of this hotel group.

Hotel Group Budvanska Rivijera is one of the largest hotel groups in Montenegro. It consists of five hotels located in some of the most attractive locations in Budva: Hotel Mogren, Hotel and Resort Slovenska plaža, Hotel "Aleksandar", Hotel Palas and Hotel Castellastva. Throughout the years this hotel group has been recognized as a company that continuously invests in quality improvements which result in a constant increase in the number of overnight stays and financial indicators. Following global trends in sustainable development in the tourism and hotel industry, HG Budvanska Rivijera has introduced an integrated management system by unifying three international ISO standards in the field of quality management (ISO 9001), environmental management (ISO 14001) and food safety management (ISO 22000 ), which is currently the only company in Montenegro operating under this principle. This hotel group has been awarded the Travelife Gold Certificate - an international quality label in the domain of respecting environmental and social principles, which shows that the company is committed to achieving high customer and employee satisfaction, reducing operating costs and respecting the principles of sustainable tourism. All this effort by HG Budvanska Rivijera was recognised on the annual award ceremony "Wild Beauty Award", during which the company was awarded a certificate for contribution to quality and development of tourist offer of Montenegro through the implementation of standards in the hotel industry.

Hotel Mogren is an authentic city hotel categorized with three stars. Built in 1934, it is an undisputed tourist symbol of Budva. Located near the walls of the Old Town, it was named after the nearby beach Mogren, one of the most beautiful beaches in Budva. The Mogren tourist season 2018 will be remembered for numerous novelties. After the adaptation of Gradska kafana (English: City Tavern), Mogren Hotel welcomed guests in a new, redesigned edition with an improved gastronomic offer, as well as a series of cultural and entertainment events on the terrace of the pop-up restaurant Makarul. Musical concerts by Zorica Kondža, band Cambi, Vanna and Kaliopi attracted many tourists and locals to the most beautiful terrace in the city. In the upcoming tourist season 2019, Mogren will continue to surprise all tourists and locals with improved event offer.

Pop-up restaurant Makarul, located on the first floor of Hotel Mogren, is the first pop-up restaurant in Montenegro. A pop-up restaurant is a provisional event designed to showcase culinary talents at a temporary location. Makarul's pop-up restaurant is the pioneer of new trends in cooking and catering, with a focus on the essence of providing restaurant services – which is the content of the served plate. Makarul offers traditional and modern cuisine in a pleasant ambience with an amazing view of Old Town Budva.

Although quite spacious, HG Budvanska Rivijera’s Gradska kafana is often too small to accommodate all those who want to enjoy the beautiful ambience, excellent music as well as local and international cuisine.

Restaurant Pjaca is a unique Mediterranean corner of the Hotel complex Slovenska plaža. When it comes to Budva, one of the first associations, aside from the sandy beaches and blue sea, is definitely the Hotel and Resort Slovenska plaža, which has been present on the Montenegrin market for more than three decades and is a kind of brand of the Hotel Group Budvanska Rivijera. In the very heart of this small Mediterranean city full of diverse facilities and well-groomed green areas, there is restaurant Pjaca. The charming ambience of this corner of Slovenian beaches will attract you at first glance, while friendly hosts and the excellent gastronomic offer will make it an inevitable place when visiting Budva. The menu of the Piazza restaurant is dominated by Mediterranean cuisine - small fried fish, homemade squid, tuna, seafood, mussels, and homemade pasta. The gastronomic delight is emphasized with a special way of serving meals - in Pjaca you will eat certain foods from unusual pots, which gives the overall experience a special seal and warmth.

In the heart of a small coastal village near Budva, a small cove and a fishing village Petrovac, there are hotels Palas and Castellastva. These hotels in the Budva Riviera are characterized by an attractive location near the sea, surrounded by natural greenery, comfort, hospitality and a unique memorable atmosphere. Apart from the standard hotel facilities, the Palas Hotel has an exceptional gastronomic offer of Makarul's pop-up restaurant, a modern and well equipped wellness & spa centre with indoor and outdoor swimming pools as well as a children's playroom.

April 13, 2019 - Lufthansa landed a plane in Montenegro, at Tivat Airport, for the first time. On the occasion of the inaugural flight passengers and special guests were welcomed by representatives of the Airport of Montenegro, Tivat Municipality, management of the Lufthansa group and the ambassador of Germany in Montenegro H.E. Heinrich Robert Weber, as well as Vice President of Tivat Municipality, Dejan Maslovar.

The Official Delegation on the Occasion of first Lufthansa Airplane Arrival to Montenegro, Photo by Dragan Redzo

12 April 2019 - The Commission for the fight against the grey economy unanimously concluded at its first session held in an enlarged composition, in line with last week's decision of the Government, that competent authorities need to immediately increase the intensity and quality of the fight against all forms of the grey economy now that they are formally strengthened by the common position of representatives of the executive authority, inspection bodies, business community and trade unions.

The session, chaired by Chairman of the Commission, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System Milutin Simović, emphasised that the Commission, in its new composition covering the entire spectrum of relevant stakeholders, is sending a strong signal of common position, interest and synergy in overcoming challenges of grey economy in the interest of employees, business community and additional income for health and education funds, therefore, in the interest of all citizens of Montenegro.

"The Commission in this composition should be an alarm clock for some institutions that do not work properly, but also for individuals. Like the Commission, we will insist on rewarding those who do business in a high-quality and efficient manner and sanctioning those who fail to answer the tasks," he underscored.

At the session, reports from the competent authorities on the results of combating grey economy in the first quarter of 2019 were presented, as well as reports on the overall trends in the labour market and grey economy in tourism. In that regard, the Commission noted that the reports show that the grey labour market has been active throughout the year and that the focus of the competent authorities could not only be placed on the tourist season. In particular, the structure of employees in the economy is such that 53.5% of business entities have one employee, while in the field of tourism and catering one employee has 2.487 subjects or 42.50% of those engaged in this activity. Formally, one employee has 147 hotels; the session stressed. In that context, it was concluded that micro, small and medium enterprises are one of the key grey economy generators in Montenegro and that these economic entities will be subjected to rigorous controls by competent authorities in the immediate future. "The inspection bodies need to knock at their door urgently," the Chairman of the Commission underlined, adding that they have a choice - to report the employees before the arrival of inspections.

Representatives of the business community and trade unions expressed satisfaction with the fact that they are involved in the fight against gray economy, stressing that they fully share the interest of its suppression. The session emphasised the need to strengthen the capacities of the competent inspection services and deal with the lack of selectivity in their approach, thus enabling the consistent observance of the law, which should testifies to the principled policy of the State. The session emphasised the need to modernise certain solutions, announcing the issuing of a new excise stamp that will contain the highest level of protection.

The Commission, constituted last year by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, Police, Customs Administration, Public Revenue Administration and Inspectorate Administration, was amended last week upon the proposal of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System, by representatives of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Ministry of Social Welfare - Directorate for Labour Market and Employment, as well as representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, Employers' Union, American Chamber of Commerce, Foreign Investors Council, Union of Trade Unions of Montenegro and Union of Free Trade Unions.

12 April 2019 - Around 2.267 employees worked in seven of the most important hotels and tour companies in Montenegro last year, and they made a profit of 151 million EUR.

Maestral hotel and casino in Budva generated the highest profit of 36,6 million EUR. Next comes Luštica Development, with 33,3 million EUR. Budvanska Rivijera made a profit of 21,5 million EUR, HG Montenegro Stars – 20,7 million EUR, HG Belvi – 14 million EUR, Adriatic Properties – 12,9 million EUR and Beppler and Jacobson Montenegro – 1,8 million EUR.

Five out of seven companies finished the last year with a positive performance. Maestral made the highest profit – 10,7 million EUR. Belvi Hotel Group from Budva ended last year with a gain of 4,64 million EUR. Budvanska Rivijera made a profit of 2,6 million EUR, while Beppler and Jacobson Montenegro made a net profit of 1,52 million EUR. The profit of Montenegro Stars amounted 342.738 EUR whereas the Adriatic Properties was at a loss – 5,72 million EUR. Luštica Development also operated at a loss of 475.545 EUR.

Montenegro Stars company had the highest number of employees last year – 650. Budvanska Rivijera counted 585 and Maestral 357 employees. Adriatic Properties had 280 employees and Belvi Group had 214. At the end of last year, Beppler and Jacobson had 93 employees, and Luštica Development – 88. Budvanska Rivijera has the highest capital – 190 million EUR. The capital of Montenegro Stars amounts 80,37 million EUR, Beppler and Jacobson – 36,2 million EUR. The capital of Belvi amounts to 28,2 million EUR and Maestral had the capital of 20,56 million EUR. Adriatic Properties had negative capital amounting to 49,5 million EUR.

Owner of the Maestral hotels and casinos company from Budva is Fasamo, a company from Podgorica. President of the Board of Directors is Georgios Lychnos, while Christos Tsemperas is the CEO.

This company manages Maestral hotel, which was reopened in July of 2017 after being reconstructed. Luštica Development is the branch of Swiss Orascom Development Holding. Samih Saviris is the President of the Board of Directors and Daren Gibson is the CEO. This company is carrying out the Luštica Bay project. Last year, the first phase of the marina with 176 berths was opened in Luštica Bay, along with the first ultra-luxurious Chedi hotel and marina settlement with around 220 residential units.

Budvanska Rivijera is still mostly state-owned. Saša Radović is the President of the Board of Directors of this company. Katarina Kažanegra is the CEO. Founders, that is, co-owners of Montenegro Stars hotel group are Žarko Radulović and Viktor Ivanenko. Milan Vuković is the CEO of this company. Splendid is within this company too. Owners of Belvi Hotel Group are Branko and Predrag Ćupić and Selim Kolar is the CEO. President of the Board of Directors of Adriatic Properties is Petros Statis and Goran Bencun is the CEO.

Founder of this company is Aidway Investments from British Virgin Islands. Adriatic Properties is the long-term tenant of Sveti Stefan hotel, Miločer villa, and Kraljičina plaža hotel. Founder of Beppler and Jacobosn company is Lawson Trading INC. This company manages Avala hotel in Budva and Bjanka hotel in Kolašin. Nikola Kasalo is the CEO and Alexander Safian is the president of the Board.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro

The Central Bank announced that it made a profit of about 3.57 million euros last year, which is 37 percent more than in the previous year.

"CBCG Council made a decision on the distribution of profits for 2018 and the decision to increase the bank's core capital," it was announced by the Supreme Monetary Institute, but details of these two decisions are not specified. On Friday, the Council adopted the CBCG financial report for the past year with a report from an independent auditor that provided a positive opinion on the business.

"The independent auditor assessed that the financial statements present a true and objective financial position of the CBCG, as well as the results of its operations and cash flows in accordance with international standards. The external auditor had no recommendations in the part of the CBCG's financial operations that would address the shortcomings in the internal control system," the CBCG said.

According to the financial statements, the total realized revenues of the CBCG were EUR 16.7 million and 17% higher than the plan. The CBCG said that in the previous two years it did not increase the tariffs it charges for its services, which confirms that the financial performance for 2018 was successful. They claim that operating costs confirm rational business and that total staff costs kept the same level of 2017.

Text by Marija Mirjacic, on April 9th, 2019, read more at Vijesti