Njegos's clock, which is listed on the list of treasury values ​​sent to the National Bank of Yugoslavia, signed in 1975 by the then director of Cetinje Museum, Stanislav Rako Vujosevic, is exhibited in the vault of the Cetinje Monastery, said the National Museum of Montenegro.

Last year, a technician in the information center of the National Museum Aleksandar Berkuljan filed a criminal complaint, stating that Njegosev's clock, ornamented with brilliants, disappeared from the National Museum.

The museum stressed that his disappearance caused the Montenegrin public's interest, pointing out that Njegos's clock was neither registered in the books of the National Museum's inventory nor in Njegosev's museum.

"In the book by Jevto Milovic," Njegos in picture and words "there is a photo of the clock with the legend below - Njegos's room clock, but without explaining where it was shot or where it is placed. We remind you that in Njegos's Museum there is a clock from the 19th century, which was donated to the National Museum of Montenegro by the antiquarian Dusan Ivanovic from Paris, who visited Cetinje in 1986 and, as it was then written in the press, sent this valuable gift one year later to the National Museum of Montenegro," said the National Museum.

As stated, the fact is that these two clocks were not recorded in the statutory books, which created additional problems in the work of the Audit Commission.

"The National Museum of Montenegro will, in the forthcoming period, carefully review all the recorded and reported deficiencies of museum material, in order to initiate processes in the competent authorities for all the missing items," said this institution.

Text by RTCG, on May 21st, 2019, read more at CdM

In Ljubljana, in the Slovenian folk auditorium, the work on a performance featuring the working title "Talks on Love" began. It is one of the most important co-productions in Montenegrin culture, between the Royal Theater Zetski Dom and the Slovene National Audience, which for decades is the most stable theater of exceptional aesthetic refinement, which has long since crossed over the borders of Europe. 

Photo: Katja Kodba

The performance is an authorial project by one of the leading Slovenian directors Jernej Lorenc, and will be performed first in Cetinje on September 14th, followed by the premier in Ljubljana on October 12th.

In the play participates the actors from Slovenia-Marusa Majer, Zvezdana Novakovic and Janez Skof; Montenegro - Srdjan Grahovac, Karmen Bardak and Jelena Laban; Albania - Krist Lieshi and Matia Luppa, while actors from Italy will join the project in Ljubljana in the coming period.

Photo: Katja Kodba

The working process of the show will take place in Ljubljana from 20^th May to 28^th June, after which the team will continue working in Cetinje from 21st August to 14th September 2019, when the premier in Montenegro will take place.

Photo: Katja Kodba

The head of the team is Director of SNG Drama Ljubljana, Igor Samobor and Director of the Royal Theater Zetski dom Lidija Dedovic. The team of the show is made of JERNEJ LORENCI, playwright and co-author: MATIC STARINA, assistant director and producer: JUS ZIDAR, stage designer: BRANKO HOJNIK, costume designer: BELINDA RADULOVIC, author of music: BRANKO ROZMAN, choreographer: GREGOR LUSTEK, design of lights: JERNEJ LORENCI, BRANKO HOJNIK, JUS ZIDAR.

Photo: Katja Kodba

The show is a collaboration between the team of the Slovenian folk auditorium and the Royal Theater Zetski dom.

This co-production is realized within the interregional project ADNICH (IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro), which is being implemented from 2018-2020, and is primarily concerned with the protection and promotion of the region of the South Adriatic.

Photo: Katja Kodba

The show above is the second activity of the Zetski Dom in the framework of this project, after the show "The Rebellion of the Sailors" in August 2018. The ADNICH project brings together five partners from three mentioned countries and the Royal Theater Zetski dom is the leader of the project.

Text by CdM, on May 22nd, 2019, read more at CdM

Plastic bags will soon be history, and in the future Montenegrin consumers will carry goods bought at the market as they once used to do - in wicker baskets, linen or paper bags. This is how the imminent future might look if the proposed Waste Management Bill gets approved, which is now due to the working group. The Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism (MORT) organized a public debate on the Draft Law in August. After that, several articles were added to the draft, including the ban on plastic bags "used for placing goods available to consumers". Plastic bags, as stated in the Proposal, will only be permitted if the packaging in which the product is packed and if the use of such items is "necessary for security reasons". Such packaging, as proposed, should be banned six months from the date of entry into force of the law. The bill also envisages misdemeanor fines ranging from one thousand to 40 thousand euros for companies, but for those which sell them, and not those which are placed on the market of disposable plastic bags. Before the public debate, the draft law foresaw introducing fees for a certain type of bags from the beginning of 2020, and to reduce the level of annual consumption by up to 40 plastic bags per person, a plan of the European Union envisaged that from January 1^st next year the number of plastic bags will be limited to 90 per capita, or 40 from 2025.

According to the Initiative #ocistime, whose petition for banning plastic bags is underway, every citizen of Montenegro uses about 730 disposable plastic bags annually.

The initiative for banning the plastic bags was launched two years ago by Zero Waste Montenegro (ZWM). In July 2017, they started a national petition requesting the abolition of plastic bags, and at the beginning of September of the same year, after submitting the 3,000 signatures of Montenegrin citizens, they received a response from the authorities and convinced that Montenegro was ready for the change. Disappointing that nothing had happened in practice, in cooperation with the #ocistime initiative a few months ago, they launched a new petition. A few days ago, the Civic Movement URA supported the ban on plastic bags.

With a new legal solution, if accepted, in addition to the ban on plastic bags, from 2025, a number of other disposable plastic products will be banned. This will prevent the use of cotton sticks, other than those used for medical purposes; it will be forbidden to use plastic eating utensils, plates, straws. There is also a ban on plastic bottles that are not manufactured by at least 35 percent of the recycled material, i.e., those which cannot be recycled.

It will be permitted to use some disposable plastic products under the condition that they contain a label on the method of disposal and the message of negative environmental impacts arising from the improper disposal of the waste product.

In March, the European Parliament, with the majority of its deputies, voted in favor for a directive prohibiting placing disposable plastic items on the market from 2021.

Montenegro's Proposed Waste Management Law foresees the introduction of a deposit-return system for waste packaging. It is a system that has been used for certain brands of beer for decades but does not include plastic bottles for water and non-alcoholic beverages or other types of foreign brands.

ZWM reminds that part of this system also included bottles of wine and mineral water, but their collection has long been suspended. The deposit amount, according to the Waste Management Bill Proposal, cannot exceed 30 percent of the amount of the sales price of the product. It is anticipated that the Government for the deposit refund system may set up a business with a legal personality. ZWM explains that in the system of reimbursement of deposits, recycling costs are borne by producers and consumers, not by the state and taxpayers.

How the deposit system works 

The ZWM initiative explained on their official page how the deposit system should function. In this chain, the retailers pay distributers or beverage suppliers for each purchased can or bottle. The consumer pays a deposit when purchasing a beverage, and when the empty can or bottle is returned to a retailer, purchasing center or bottle vendor, the deposit is refunded. The deposit of the merchant will be refunded from the distributor at an optional processing fee.

New obligations for fishers

The Bill, in relation to the Draft, has added an article to treat the waste of fishing tools.

Thus, since 2025, the recycling of plastic fishing gear is envisaged, it is also possible to introduce contributions to promote the fishing gear intended for reuse and recycling and to add a depository system for waste fishing gear.

Text by Damira Kalac, on May 23rd, 2019, read more at Vijesti

21 May 2019 - The Government's greatest success in these two years is the investment momentum in the north, where we want to create all the conditions for citizens to live better, Prime Minister Duško Marković said in an interview with Pobjeda daily on this occasion of Independence Day of Montenegro.

"The first results in these terms in the past two years are already visible, which is why the completion of the priority section of the motorway and the continuation of the works on the next one are crucial for the development of the north and the country as a whole. The winter ski infrastructure s already visible; the Đalovia Cave project is progressing, the opening of a sour water factory, the development of agriculture, all these are the results that make me especially delighted and motivated," Prime Minister Marković noted.

Speaking about what was the biggest problem his Cabinet has faced, the Prime Minister noted that it was the unwillingness of the opposition to contribute to political, social and development cohesion, and the fact they showed incredible consistency in the boycotting of institutions and attempts to block them. The approach of negation and the desire to bring the State to its knees so that they then they can allegedly raise it up, the Prime Minister stated, is difficult to understand.

"I think that the Government I am running has done a good job, but that is not its maximum. There is no real result, no change in the way of thinking about the State and its priorities without dialogue. I believe that that time is coming, and then it will be easier for this and every other Government to operate, and the results will be more visible," the Prime Minister of Montenegro underscored.

When asked whether it is true that today's Montenegro is not even close to Montenegro from referendum promises, the Prime Minister recalled that a few days ago, at the reception he hosted on the occasion of the 13th anniversary of the restoration of independence, he said that Montenegro of today and Montenegro before the restoration of independence do not look like one another. And this is in favour of today's Montenegro.

"We promised citizens the country and we renewed our independence. We defined NATO membership and integration into the EU as key objectives. We have already delivered on these promises," said Prime Minister Markovič, adding that the promise of visa liberalisation was also delivered.

He pointed out that Montenegro is the fastest growing economy with the highest standard in the region outside the EU countries: "This is not recognised only by those who are opponents of the government, but also by historical opponents of the existence and every progress of independent Montenegro."

When asked about why Montenegro's international perception is better than that of domestic critics, the Prime Minister said that this is not a good international perception, but rather a realistic reputation that has been built up over decades of efforts to distance ourselves from the Balkan fallacies and put the country on the path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

"Montenegro is today a partner and ally across the globe, where democracy and civilisation values, peace and stability are defended, and this Government can be reprimanded for a lot of things, especially when it comes to the standard of our citizens and their need to live better which we are now strongly committed. But for our devotion to the State, its sovereignty and independence, its right to be on its own and decide on its own future - surely not! A dirty campaign against the authorities, gossiping one's own country in every place and every opportunity is, in fact, a political attempt to make the country vanish," Prime Minister Marković underlined.

Regarding the issue of the Draft Law on Freedom of Religion and the expectations of possible opposing it and the power of the State to implement it, the Prime Minister said that this law, once it is adopted in the Parliament, will be a major step forward for democracy and basic human rights and freedoms.

"When such a concept is added to the preservation of the cultural identity and tradition of our people, and the principles governing relations between the State and religious communities based on freedom and equality, then I am convinced that we have a historic opportunity to place these questions where they belong. The draft law was drafted after extensive and wide-ranging consultations with all stakeholders. With regard to its application, the State will have the strength and determination to implement it," the Prime Minister pointed out.

Responding the statement that the State was unable to remove the illegally built in church on the Rumija mountain, and that now it has no power to remove the baptistery in the sea near Tivat and an illegally built facility in Dajbabe, the Prime Minister said that this s too naive and laic reflection.

"The Government is tackling this issue with full sensitivity in order not to intensify the division of the country among the Orthodox population.

"Social cohesion is our goal and we need the patience to achieve it. Of course, we will not allow the building of religious facilities on the state land or on the land of religious communities, contrary to law. That is why we are passing the Law on Freedom of Religion in order to establish religious rights and obligations," the Prime Minister of Montenegro explained.

Summarising the most important economic indicators of the Government's performance, PM Marković said that the Montenegrin economy has been developing all over the years since the restoration of independence.

"I am convinced that our economic growth has been particularly dynamic in the last two years, as evidenced by very high growth rates of close to 5%.

" Economic growth has created nearly 18,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate has been reduced by more than 6% direct investments have amounted to one billion and five hundred million euros. In these two years, current spending has been financed from the revenues, we have halved the budget deficit and much more," the Prime Minister of Montenegro concluded.

Source: Pobjeda Daily

The Municipality of Bar is the only one in Montenegro, possible even wider, which can offer tourists a holiday on the sea, the lake, and the mountains, and affirmation of tourism potentials of the hinterland mountain massif of Rumija, will see even more attention, said Emil Kukalj, the Director of Tourism Organization of Bar after a successful action "Expedition to the mountains ".

TO Bar attracted a group of about fifty tourists from several cities to a day-long hiking tour called "Expedition to the mountains", aiming to populate an active vacation in the hinterland.

The tour joined the "Two Magical Coasts" - the Adriatic Sea and Skadar Lake in Bar, and during the multi-level crossing of the massif Rumija through Bijela Skala, tourism workers met the lesser-known areas that should be recommended to their clients.

The departure was from Baltina, 650 meters above sea level, from where they walked up to Bijela Skala, to an altitude of 903 meters. This marked 5.2km long line is categorized as medium difficulty, its official number is 788, it is safe and has no critical points, and for passing, as described and proven in practice, it is physically in the middle range of demanding.

From this mountain pass, they hiked 4.5 kilometers to Pincic in Sestani, from where the wagon of trucks were transferred to Murici on the lake shore. The tour continued by boat to the beach Pjesacac where lunch was prepared in the ethno-ambiance and the final part was a sail from Pjesacac to Virpazar. The group was led by the professional licensed mountain guides Darko Pepdjonovic, Igor Percobic and Ilija Vukotic.

"We had a total of 53 travel agents and workers from Bar, Budva, and Podgorica. The tour is another indicator that Bar has the capacities unlike any other city, that there are great potentials not only for summer passive vacations, but for active holidays during the whole year. The vicinity of the sea and the lake, numerous hiking trails over a hundred kilometers long, the possibility to develop canyoning; this wealth is offered in such a small space and is truly a unique offer that can be very attractive for tourists and tourist agencies to include in the market," Kukalj said. Commenting on the fact that in the area between the two coasts the price of the private accommodation in the summer is much higher than in the traditional sea tourism resorts, Kukalj pointed out that the hinterland is mainly visited by the guests from Western Europe. "They are different from those on the seashore, because they are primarily looking for privacy, peace, silence and escape from everyday life, the internet and mobile phones. They can, truth be told, afford to pay more. As we go down from Bijela Skala to Pincice, we came across a group of ten Swiss people, and it is characteristic that they are older adults. These are people who have time and budget for such trips in their age," Kukalj added. 

More mountain guides will be needed in Bar

"A significant number of Bar Mountain Trails have been marked, but now they need to be maintained properly, renewed and remarked. The guides need additional training, and for a more serious approach more guides will be needed, in order to make our offer at the satisfactory level and be of service to as many tourists as possible," said Kukalj.

Text by Radomir Petric, on May 22nd, 2019, read more at Vijesti

Independence Day of Montenegro was marked in Baosici by the cultural, entertainment and sports program "My Country".

"The day on which Montenegro marks independence is a day that clearly marks the milestone and a break with the mythomania, the waving of swords, the daggers and the flags, the day where Montenegro, human, honest, dignified, civilized, decided on its destiny," said the playwriter Stevan Koprivica.

The state of Montenegro, he said, becomes a shelter, or at least tries to be, to all, no matter if they are called Montenegrins, Serbs, Croats, Albanians, Bosnians, Roma, Egyptians, Italians, more than a state that implies institutions and demonstrations of power.

"Montenegro is a homeland to people whose honesty, workmanship, rejoicing, and family are not determined by the nation itself, but by human quality. Ethics, and not nationalism, is the ethos that emerges from the national dance in which the jump strives to the heights, the nobility of the Boka Bay “kolo” (dance), in the emotion of old-Podgorica songs that have the tones and longings of the east, in the heights of Prokletije," Koprivica said.

Montenegro and all of its people, by the act of celebrating independence, relying on those irrefutable facts of history, but not being slaves to them, embarked on a modern era of emancipation of human values, the attempt to keep the state not to be a government mechanism but a synonym and paradigm of a homeland," concluded Koprivica.

In the program of the celebration, whose organizer and executive producer was "Media Frame", the chorus from the High school "Ivan Goran Kovacic" and their band "Kupplung", duo "Providenca", "Castel Nuovo" and actor Milos Pejovic participated.

"Race of Independence" was held on the route from the Cultural center in Bijela to Baosici Local Community.

Text by Slavica Kosic, on May 21st, 2019, read more at Vijesti

May 22, 2019 - Montenegrin director Ivan Marinovic won the Krzysztof Kieslowski ScripTeast Award for the "Forever Hold Your Peace" script yesterday at the International Film Festival in Cannes, within the framework of the ScripTeast Workshops program, announced the Film Center of Montenegro.

With Forever Hold Your Peace, Marinovic confirms his movie gift

Participation in the ScripTeast program is significant for Marinovic and his film

Montenegrin Telekom and the University of Donja Gorica have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, which enables students of the Faculty of Information Systems and Technology on basic and specialist programs of Information Systems Management and Data Protection and Information System Security to practice and improve their knowledge in Telekom.

Telekom thus continues to cooperate with numerous educational institutions in the country, and once again demonstrated that it is happy to open the doors to students, contributing to the improvement of the quality of education.

"We are particularly interested in supporting the education system in the so-called STEM areas, i.e., the development of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, as the need for recruiting specialists from this field is steadily increasing. It is key for the success of the entire Montenegrin society and economy. Therefore, we will try to give full support to the students of the Information Systems and Technology Faculty, and we believe that young people who acquire practical knowledge in our company have the opportunity to learn from top experts and to use that knowledge in the best way. Our ambition is to further empower employers and the broader community through this and similar activities to ensure that the educated and talented people build their careers and destinies in Montenegro," said Miroslav Janicic, Director of Human Resources Sector at Telekom, at the signing of the Memorandum.

Practice in Telekom is an excellent opportunity for students to get acquainted with modern trends in telecommunications and information technology, said the Technical Director in Telekom Valentina Radulovic.

"IT students have big challenges to overcome in a very dynamic telecommunications sector, and in Telekom we offer them the opportunity to participate in the teamwork with our developers in the creation and development of innovative digital solutions. At the same time, Telekom is part of the Deutsche Telekom Group, the leader of the digital transformation in Europe, so Montenegrin students are the future experts who will plan and develop the architecture for the network and services of the future," Radulovic concluded.

UDG said that they invest a lot in making their students acquire not only knowledge, but also the skills they will need in a real business environment. That is why, they explain, they pay close attention to the practical teaching during the course of the studies, and the application of theoretical knowledge while working in companies or at research projects.

"We are pleased that our students will have the opportunity to practice at Telekom, one of the leading companies in our market, which has long since emerged from the regional frameworks. In this way, students will have the opportunity to get acquainted with state-of-the-art technological solutions and innovations that will increasingly affect the world we live. The signing of this contract is only a continuation of cooperation with the Montenegrin Telekom, which, in various fields, lasts from the establishment of the University," said the Dean of the Faculty of Information Systems and Technology, Prof. Dr. Milica Vukotic.

Text by Promo, on May 20th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

At the Natural History Museum of Montenegro, the exhibition opened titled "When Nature Speaks". The event was organized as part of the “Day and Night of Museums”, which included 13 Montenegrin cities.

The exhibition was opened by the Minister of Culture Aleksandar Bogdanovic, who pointed out that the exhibition gives insight into the natural features of the Montenegrin region.

 
"At least, it is unrealistic for the world to recognize the significance of our natural potential if we are not familiar with it to the fullest, and above all, if we do not deal with it with special responsibility. That is why the Natural History Museum with its collections is a place that must have one of the most important roles in the information and education process, but also a place that will direct the public awareness towards the current problems of preserving the natural heritage through its programs," he said.

Director of the Natural History Museum Lidija Polovic said that each of the collections has a certain story, an introduction to an endless novel, whose actions extends to the rich past, the present and the future of Montenegro and has only one goal to convey the message that nature is an important prerequisite of power and prosperity of the state and its culture.

The exhibition presents a display of fossil and recent representatives of the living world from the area of ​​Montenegro. It has united material from all 15 collections of the Natural History Museum, thanks to which visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with the richness of biodiversity and geodiversity of our country.

The authors of the exhibition are Marko Karaman, Snezana Dragicevic, Lidija Polovic, Natalija Cadjenovic, Nada Bubanja, Snezana Vuksanovic, Goran Culafic, Suzana Malidzan, Ilinka Cetkovic, Ceda Ivanovic, Andrej Vizi, Vera Biberdzic, Katarina Burzanovic, Branka Tomovic and Dubravka Besic.

Within the event “Day and Night of the Museum”, across Montenegro there are more than 35 different programs currently ongoing, which, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, take place in 17 national and local public institutions of culture

Text by CdM, on May 18th, 2019, read more at CdM