February 27, 2019 - The delegation of the German shipping company Al Group, made up of executive director Ulrich Paulsdorf, seamanship manager Rita Vella-Menzel, fleet manager Tonći Zdunjić and operator of seafarer hiring Kolja Funk, is staying in a two-day working visit to Montenegro. 

23 February 2019 - Hotel Mimoza, the oldest Tivat hotel built in 1958, was demolished in 2016, and a new hotel with apartments for sale on the market will be built at the same location.

The previous Hotel Mimoza had a restaurant with 200 seats, a cocktail bar, a snack bar, a 100-seater meeting room and a fun games room with a billiard room and an attractive terrace in the park. The hotel's capacity was 144 beds in 72 rooms.

The new owner of the hotel is the company "Mimoza Group" LLC from Tivat. They paid the former owner, the HTT "Mimoza", majority owned by Đorđije Nicović, about 6,5 million EUR.

"Hotel Mimoza Hotel & Residence will have 66 units, out of which 48 standard rooms, six studios, as well as 12 one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments," the new hotel owners specified in the recent statement. They also said that the investment worth about 30 million EUR was worth it and that the construction works are carried out by Russian investors through a company registered in Germany. The

In 2018, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro has issued urban technical conditions to the company "Mimoza Group" for the preparation of technical documentation, for the reconstruction of the existing facility-condo hotel at the site of urban parcels UP117 and UP118 in the procedure of Detailed Urban Plan Tivat-Centre", which is intended for business in the function of tourism.

“The planned upgrade is 1,600 square metres, and the upgrading with its dimensions, volume and materialization must be in accordance with the architecture of the existing object and ambient," states the UTC obtained from the Ministry.

23 February 2019 - At its latest session the Government approved the Road Safety Report for 2018, in which it was concluded that the analysis of statistical indicators of traffic accidents indicates that the traffic safety in 2018 significantly improved compared to the previous year and can be assessed as favourable.

The number of fatalities decreased by 23.8%, the number of seriously injured persons was reduced by 9.5% and the number of minor injuries was reduced by 1.8%. The Government tasked the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs, Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health, Transport Directorate and the Police Authority to undertake all planned measures for the implementation of strategic and other planning documents and regulations and to continue the activities on securing financial and other prerequisites for the implementation of all necessary measures towards all traffic participants in 2019.

In line with the Law Amending the Law on the Central Bank, the Government passed the Regulation Amending the Regulation on the cessation of the validity of certain by-laws. The Law Amending the Law on the Central Bank removed the article regarding the legal basis for the adoption of the Rulebook on detailed conditions and procedure for providing emergency liquidity support to the bank, which created the conditions for the termination of the Rule.

The representatives of the Government of Montenegro adopted the Regulation on the amount of fee for the issuance of urban and technical conditions for temporary facilities established by the Programme of temporary facilities, which established fees in the amount of 10.00 EUR for mobile and 50.00 EUR for fixed temporary facilities.

The Government approved the Information on the Proposed Agreement on the Implementation of the Technical Support Project between the Ministry of Finance of Hungary and the Government of Montenegro - the Office for European Integration, within the Interreg V-B Danube Transnational for the period 2014-2020. The signing of the Agreement aims to efficiently and effectively manage and implement the Programme and improve the support to project promoters and beneficiaries.

The session was concluded with approval of the Information on amendments to the Financing Agreement between the Government of Montenegro and the European Commission related to the "IPA Adriatic Cross-Border Cooperation Programme" under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance 2007-2013, with the Proposal for Amendments to the Financing Agreement. The changes relate to more precise information presentation and are not essential.

22 February 2019 - Podgorica will get another residential-business complex on the site of the current Hotel City under Ljubović, and the potential investor, Company UTIP Montenegro, does not reject the possibility that one part of the building could be left for a different hotel category than the existing one.

As TMN previously reported, the demolition of the current City Hotel in Podgorica started February 11. The representative of UTIP Montenegro, Nemanja Nikolić, said that the destruction would take about 40 days. He added that they had already announced the construction of a multi-purpose residential and business facility.

According to the project that is being completed by the Podgorica architectural bureau, only the residential business building that would have a little less than 25,000 square meters is mapped to the place where the City Hotel today is located. Six floors, ground floor, and underground garage are projected.

"A multipurpose business residential building is planned on the plot. In addition to housing, the business segment is planned on the ground floor, and in one part of the building, the investors plan a construction of a city hotel that will have a separate entrance and which can be stretched vertically through the entire height of the building," reported the representatives of Detailed Urban Plan of Podgorica.

According to the investors, the project will be finished by the end of next year. "One of the most interesting future projects is the residential complex Ljubović Hill, located in an extremely attractive location in the city at the foot of Ljubović Hill, soured in the natural greenery of the mountain slopes, just next to the famous city promenade and recreation areas, and at the very heart of the city," stated the representatives of Normal Company, the project's investor.

22 February 2019 - Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Milutin Simović presented in Cetinje the results of the IPARD Support Programme in the processing industry. 

As a result of the first public call for grants to support investment in the processing industry through the IPARD Programme, 21 projects will be supported with a total investment of more than 12.5 million EUR, DPM Simović said, assessing that the beginning of the use of funds from the big IPARD is the beginning of a large investment swing in Montenegrin agriculture. 

In the presence of beneficiaries - 21 entrepreneurs from Bar, Bijelo Polje, Budva, Cetinje, Mojkovac, Nikšić, Podgorica and Pljevlja, representatives of the EU Delegation to Montenegro, as well as competent institutions involved in the implementation of IPARD and representatives of local self-government, Simović expressed satisfaction that they all together marked a new step forward in Montenegrin agriculture.

"We are together again: valuable entrepreneurs, our EU partners, the Government, local self-government and media representatives. Together we mark the beginning of a large investment swing in Montenegrin agriculture - the beginning of the use of funds from the large IPARD programme. The year in which Montenegrin agriculture will significantly strengthen its capacities in primary production and processing, with generous support from European funds and the Government of Montenegro, lies ahead of us," Simović stressed. 

The total amount of investments is over 12.5 million EUR, and the grant is over 5 million EUR. Non-refundable support from European Union funds amounts to 3.9 million EUR, and from the national budget 1.3 million EUR. 

"These investments will provide new 85 jobs and the viability of 786 existing jobs," the Deputy Prime Minister emphasised. 

Head of the Cooperation Section at the EU Delegation to Montenegro Hermann Spitz said that this was a joint EU-Montenegrin support for the development of rural areas, increased competitiveness of agricultural production and adoption of high EU standards for sustainable land use, food safety and better access to the EU market. 

According to Spitz, the number of received applications exceeded initial expectations. This is, he said, a positive signal and indicator that the Montenegrin agriculture sector needs big investments, that the producers are ready for the challenge in order to improve production, but also an indicator that Montenegrin agriculture has a future. 

Montenegro and the countries of the region, if they want to be competitive with the rest of the world and attract tourists from many countries, must have a common offer and promotion in these markets, said the Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism Pavle Radulovic.

He presented opportunities for investment in Montenegro at the International Adria Hotel Forum, held in Belgrade, at one of the most important events for the promotion of investment potentials and tourist offer, and expressed readiness for regional cooperation in the field of tourism. "The point is that distant emitting markets, that is, much-populated countries, such as Asia, China, Canada, and America, hardly recognize the borders of small countries. For the Chinese, everything that is from the Urals to the Alps – is the Balkans. They travel nomadically for a few days and visit many countries. If we want to be competitive to the rest of the world, we have to work together," Radulovic said.

The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism announced that Radulovic placed a special emphasis on the results achieved through the stimulating measures for the development of tourism in the last two years.

He reminded that the projects, whose total value is estimated at close to 150 million euros, include Mamula, Kolasin 1600, Mediterranean Zabljak and Ulcinj Riviera complex.

The Ministry said that Montenegro was also presented as a destination where projects are currently being realized, the value of which is worth three billion euros.

Radulovic, as an important instrument for stimulating investments in the field of tourism, listed the project of economic citizenship and announced an upcoming public tender for companies that meet the requirements to be included in the list of development projects.

"Montenegro is a country that has good airline links with emitting markets, and of special importance for the development of not only tourism but also the entire economy, is certainly the existence of a highway," said Radulovic.

Radulovic held bilateral meetings with colleagues from Bulgaria, Serbia and Croatia, while he said he expects cooperation with Albania and Macedonia.

"Joint projects that are under preparation are roads of wine, mountain routes and a project called “From the sky to the sea”," the statement said.

According to Radulovic, more tangible steps must be taken.

"We already have several joint projects, for example, the Ski Resorts of Serbia and the Ski Resorts of Montenegro have signed the Agreement where the ski pass applies to both territories. Also, we jointly participate in events in the emission markets with Croatia, Serbia, and Macedonia," Radulovic said.

The Adria hotel forum is an event that is organized for the seventh year in a row, and for the past two years has been sponsored by the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism of Montenegro.

According to Radulovic, for the promotion of Montenegro, this is one of the biggest events in the Mediterranean, because it is an opportunity for Montenegro to present itself to investors, financiers and operators.

Text by MINA Business, on February 21st, 2019, read more at Vijesti

21 February 2019 - State balance of payments at the end of 2018 was 793 million EUR in deficit. The key item that had an impact on such a result was the import that amounted to almost 2,49 billion EUR. On the other side, revenues generated in tourism that exceeded a billion and thus the expenditure part of the current account was alleviated.

As far as the revenues of the state are concerned, they amounted to 46,3 million EUR whereas the expenditures amounted 13,2 million EUR.

Total reserves of the Central Bank at the end of 2018 reached 203,1 million EUR. Preliminary data show that around 843,1 million EUR was brought into Montenegro thanks to foreign direct investments.

However, there has been an outflow of 515,5 million EUR.

The biggest part of foreign citizens investments was related to investments in various companies and banks. Slightly less than 300 million EUR is intercompany debt, that is, investments that do not increase the initial capital. Thanks to real estate, foreigners invested 182,6 million EUR and 23,2 million EUR in other activities.

Around 10,22 million EUR came with the reduction of capital in foreign banks and companies. Income generated from selling real estate abroad amounted to 677.775 EUR.

Italy takes the very first position on the list of states that brought most foreign direct investments (116,7 million EUR). Great Britain takes sixth place on the list (48,3 million EUR).

For the purposes of comparison, in 2017, most invested money came from the United Arab of Emirates, followed by Italy.

Thirty-nine, out of fifty-three citizens who invested in Montenegro, have invested amounts higher than one million.

Source: Cafe del Montenegro