19 February 2019 - Minister of the Interior Mevludin Nuhodžić met with his Turkish counterpart Süleyman Soylu in Ankara, Turkey. It was assessed that the meeting is a confirmation of the high-quality bilateral relations and friendship between the two countries.

Minister Nuhodžić stressed that the successful fight against all forms of crime requires intensive and continuous cooperation and information exchange.

"Our task is to send a message, through joint actions of the Montenegrin and Turkish police, that every criminal, every fugitive from justice, knows that they will not be able to find safe haven in either Montenegro or Turkey," said Minister Nuhodžić.

Expressing satisfaction with the cooperation and friendly relations between the two countries, Minister Nuhodžić thanked Turkey for the assistance it provides in the area of specialist training and education of Montenegrin police officers. He expressed confidence that the meeting will be an additional incentive for further strengthening of cooperation between the ministries of the interior of Montenegro and Turkey.

Minister Soylu said that the meeting agreed on the improvement of cooperation between the two ministries in the field of police affairs and expressed gratitude to Montenegro for its support in the fight against illegal migration, smuggling, organised crime and terrorism.

"This meeting is a crown of good cooperation and friendship between the Republic of Turkey and Montenegro. Montenegro's NATO membership is extremely important and, therefore, the intention of our two ministries is to further improve cooperation and jointly confront the common forces with all security challenges and threats," the Turkish Minister stressed.

"Stability and further development of the countries of the Western Balkans is very important for Turkey. We see Montenegro as an example of a multi-ethnic and multireligious harmony, bearing in mind that members of different faiths and nations live in Montenegro," he noted, adding that the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan intends to visit Montenegro in the near future.

Following the meeting, the two interior ministers signed an agreement on cooperation and mutual assistance in emergency situations. "This agreement is a confirmation of mutual readiness for solidarity and cooperation between our two friendly states," Minister Nuhodžić said.

21 February 2019 - The hotel complex Palmon Bay Hotel & Spa located in Igalo, Herceg Novi has earned a high 9.0 guest rating, out of a possible 10, for a complete service in 2018, which is why the Booking.com website awarded them with the Guest Review Award package.

This is a remarkable acknowledgment of the guests who evaluated the overall offer of the hotel as well as the services that the hotel offers outside the facility, which creates additional motivation for the hotel’s management. Last year's rating of the hotel on booking.com was 8.9 and the complex managed to raise that rank to 9.0, which is a great success for the entire Palmon Bay Hotel team.

The Guest Review Awards program is Booking.com’s annual appreciation program that recognizes partners for their top-notch hospitality according to review scores left by guests after their stay. To become a winner of the Guest Review Awards, properties need to meet special conditions in relations to review scores and the number of reviews.

The winners of Booking.com Awards receive their Guest Review Award package, which contains a letter of praise, a special certificate for positive guest reviews, and a window sticker which proves that numerous guests positively evaluated the facility.

According to the Executive Director of Palmon Bay Hotel and Spa, Bojan Ilić, the guests of the hotel are the heart of their business and making sure they have the best possible experience is what ultimately defines this facility. “Our main goal is for our guests to be satisfied, for them to leave the hotel with a smile and to raise this ranking even more in the future. In this facility, where guests are quite critical, such results point out that we are on the right track. Being harmonized with the standards and procedures and constant training of employees have all come to this result," Ilić explained for Radio Jadran.

He added that the management of the hotel constantly analyzes the guest ratings, trying to make the hotel feel like their home during their stays and to give each guest the same level of attention. “If the management does not pay attention to criticism, the service cannot be improved," Ilić assessed. The guests, according to him, are most appreciative of the staff, the property, the cleanliness, the comfort, the location, i.e. the value of everything for which they invested their money.

The hotel management is satisfied with the current visit, although the results can always be better, especially due to aggressive and intense campaigns and promotions at various fairs.

Palmon Bay Hotel & Spa is a modern hotel located in Igalo, Herceg Novi near the seashore. This luxurious hotel features 204 rooms and suites, private beach, Wellness and Spa Centre, lobby and pool bar, business centre and a la carte restaurant Olive Terrace located on the roof terrace. The management of the hotel has high expectations for the four-star Palmon Bay in 2019, and their predictions include improvements in the hotel’s general offer and an increase in the number of visits.

21 February 2019 - Montenegrin Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management will officially present the special magazine "The Collection of Montenegro's Best Beaches" for the first time at the IFT 2019 in Belgrade.

Montenegrin Public Enterprise for Coastal Zone Management will take part in the 41st International Tourism Fair (IFT 2019) in Belgrade. The presentation of Montenegrin beaches, marinas and every aspect of Montenegrin coastal offer will be located at the stand of the National Tourist Organization of Montenegro.

The theme of this year's presentation of the Coastal Zone Management Enterprise is the new categorisation of swimming areas and beaches from Herceg Novi to Ulcinj. According to the Enterprise’s representatives, from this season onwards, all public swimming areas will have their own theme - family swimming places, somewhat more hidden romantic and excursion swimming areas, beaches for active vacation (wind & kite surfing and diving) party beaches.

“As a special novelty, we marked pet-friendly swimming areas that are intended for all tourists and visitors who wish to spend the day on the beach with their pets. There are also special beaches, medicinal and nudist swimming areas. For the fair show, a special magazine "The Collection of Montenegrin Best Beaches" has been prepared - a catalogue of the most attractive beaches that have a prestigious ecological recognition of the Blue Flag, but also an extraordinary gastro and lifestyle offer on the beach,” the representatives of Coastal Zone Management Enterprise explained.

During the fair, the Director of the Public Enterprise, Predrag Jelušić and his associates will meet with numerous workpeople from the tourism department and partners from Serbia and the region. Media presentations will be organized daily on which the Montenegrin coast, as the most important tourist resource, will be promoted before the auditorium of one of the most important tourism fairs.

Source: Radio Jadran

February 21, 2019 - The Citizens' Movement  "97,000 Odupri Se" (97.000 Resist) organizes the third gathering in Podgorica on Saturday, to express the civic protest because, as stated, the dysfunctionality of all segments of the political system in Montenegro. A new gathering in front of the Prosecutor's Office building is scheduled for 23 February at 6 pm. For this occasion, we spoke with a member of the organizing committee of the protest campaign, Ilija Gajevic.

To the public competition for the selection of the most successful managers and entrepreneurs in the past year published by the Association of Montenegrin Managers (AMM), 249 proposals arrived, out of which 82 were accepted.

The AMM announced that such a large number of nominations, but also accepted candidates, showed that the business community recognized the importance of affirmation of the results and provided a prominent prestige to the business prize awarded by the profession.

The public competition was officially closed on Monday.

The support of awarding the most successful managers and entrepreneurs is granted by the Government, the Chamber of Commerce (PKCG), the Council of Foreign Investors (SSICG), the Institute of Certified Accountants of Montenegro, the Human Resources Management Board, the Economic and Faculty for Mediterranean Studies and the Fund for Active Citizenship (FAKT).

The AMM said that before the committee, which will hold its first plenary session tomorrow and a final one on Monday in the hotel Hilton, there will be no easy task due to the great competition and interest of the business community.

Text by MINA Business, on February 20th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

The project "100 Greatest in Montenegro 2019" is intended for companies that, despite numerous limitations, objective and subjective barriers in business, continuously achieve excellent results and as such deserve the recognition and respect of the wider community. This was announced at the press conference on the occasion of the start of the project "100 Greatest in Montenegro", which is being held this year for the second time, initiated by the company “BI Consulting”, as the leading agency in the field of business and credit information in partnership with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Economy, with the support of the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro and with the general sponsorship of the Société Générale Bank Montenegro.

The founder of BI Consulting, a provider of business information, Ratko Nikolic, reminded that the goal of the project is to promote positive business practice in Montenegro, to make it visible to the most important Montenegrin companies, the major taxpayers and the largest employers.

"Despite numerous limitations, objective and subjective barriers in business, it should be noted that in Montenegro there is a significant number of companies that continuously achieve excellent results. Such companies deserve recognition and respect of the wider community, which is why this Project is dedicated to them," Nikolic said.

On the basis of clear parameters from the financial statements for the business year 2018, he said that 100 major companies from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as all large companies will be selected.

"We will rank all of them according to clear and publicly available parameters from their duly submitted financial statements, based on total revenues, realized net profit and number of employees. We will also distinguish and rate 20 companies as per 12 key business activities and publish them all in a special annual publication, an exclusive, collector's edition, in which all the significant business achievements in the previous financial year will find its place," Nikolic said.

According to him, the criteria and parameters for ranking are public, clear and precise, and companies, as explained, are ranked by automation, depending on the results achieved, reported in the balance sheets.

"Only companies that submitted correct financial statements for 2018 will be on the lists, that were not blocked in the last 12 months, that regularly carry out tax obligations or regularly execute their commitments from the reprograms, operate for at least three years, have a capital higher than 100 thousand euros and more than three employees," Nikolic said.

He added that the first-ranked companies in these categories and one for the fastest growing company per the same parameters will be awarded at the ceremony at the end of May. CEO of the Directorate for Investments, Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and Management of EU Funds in the Ministry of Economy, Radosav Babic, said that in Montenegro there are about 26 thousand registered companies, which will be in the competition for the selection of the greatest and most profitable ones.

"Such a project will show existing and potential investors that in Montenegro they can find credible business opportunities and partners. It will additionally inspire and encourage start-up projects, especially in the category of micro and small enterprises. It is up to us as a government and the state to create entrepreneurs with a favorable business environment and support for growth and development," Babić explained.

He announced that the Ministry of Economy will implement the Program for improving the competitiveness of the economy this year, through ten different Program lines for improving the innovativeness, introduction of international standards, modernization of the processing industry, cluster development, support for the development of crafts, provision of mentoring services and entrepreneurship development.

"I am convinced that this kind of project is an additional incentive for domestic businessmen to use the Government's available support in order to continuously improve their business in the future and contribute to their efforts to find themselves on the list of the 100 greatest in Montenegro," Babic said.

The State Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Nemanja Katnic, said that the participation of this sector, that is, the Government in the project will be very significant and that it will be an additional stimulus for domestic companies that want to achieve even better business results.

"This project also highlights the major taxpayers, which also shows how important financial reporting is for both businessmen and the state," Katnic said.

The 100 Greatest project, he explained, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance, in the previous year, singled out and awarded the best Montenegrin companies in different categories, which, as he added, is a guarantee that Montenegro has quality business entities.

"We hope that the forthcoming period will produce new names on the Montenegrin market, which will contribute to the development of the economic sector, which will result in new jobs and increased export, as well as the development of entrepreneurship, which is ultimately one of the main goals of the Government," Katnic said.

Executive Director of the Business department and Vice president of the Société Générale Bank Montenegro, Samo Jovićević, said that, given the results and organization of the "100 Greatest in Montenegro" last year, that bank decided to be part of the project this year, which will additionally highlight and reward the largest, best and most successful Montenegrin companies.

"We at the Société Générale Montenegro believe that rewarding and highlighting companies that have made an outstanding contribution to the Montenegrin economy and the development of small and medium business is very important, primarily because it should  an example and show that along with persistent and committed work it is possible to achieve good results and contribute to the further development of the business environment and the economy as a whole," Jovicevic said.

He said that the Société Générale Bank Montenegro continued with strong credit support to the Montenegrin companies last year, which, as he added, is witnessed by the dynamic growth of the bank's loan portfolio in this segment of about ten percent.

"We are sure that many Montenegrin companies, with our many years of continuous support, achieved record results in 2018 and will deserve to be part of the club of the best and most successful Montenegrin companies," Jovicevic said.

More detailed information about conditions, criteria and categories is available on the site www.100najvecih.me 

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

The Municipality of Budva hosts the second meeting of project partners realized within the project implementation of #DynaMob 2.0 - Dynamic mobility. The project is funded by EU funds through the INTERREG IPA Cross-Border Cooperation Program for Italy, Albania and Montenegro 2014-2020.

The #DynaMob 2.0 project aims to promote and encourage the use of environmentally friendly forms of transport with a focus on car sharing and bike sharing. The Municipality of Budva will, for the first time, through the #DynaMob 2.0 project, provide the opportunity for its citizens and tourists for an alternative, healthier and more economical transportation in the city, through the purchase of electric bikes, the installation of a filling station for eco cars, in combination with the appropriate application.

The meeting was officially opened by Mr. Marko Markovic, vice-president of the Municipality Budva. During the meeting, the partners of the project will discuss the implementation of the project activities so far, will present the latest technologies and results related to the Action Plan for Sustainable Mobility, #Dynamob 2.0 Paths and Investments. The meeting was attended by the representatives of partner institutions: Copertino Municipality (Italy), Ulisse Training Center (Italy), Campobasso (Italy), Tirana Chamber of Commerce, Skrapar Municipality (Albania) and Tirana Municipality (Albania). The Municipality of Budva was represented by the Secretariat for Municipal Utility Affairs and the Office for European Integration and Cooperation. The total budget of the project #DynaMob 2.0 is 839.500 euros, and the implementation of the project will last until April 2020.

Text by Vuk Lajovic, on February 20th, 2019, read more at Vijesti

February 21, 2019 - The two-day presentation of vacancies in the Lustica Development company in Tivat and the Chedi Hotel Lustica Bay for all interested candidates will be held on Friday and Saturday, 22 February and 23 February.

There are about 100 vacancies in the hotel and 15 in Lustica Development, which is developing a project for the construction of a tourist town Lustica Bay. These are operational and administrative engagements in the field of tourism and catering, and the highest percentage of seasonal character.

February 20, 2019 - The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development today announced five public invitations to grant non-refundable support to the development of marine fisheries, sea aquaculture, and freshwater aquaculture.

February 20, 2019 - The Center for Civic Education (CCE) today announced that the Anti-Corruption Agency (ASK) should check where the President of Montenegro Milo Djukanovic has money to cover the debt to Atlas Bank.