Montenegro ranked 46th out of 189 golobal economies in 2016 World Bank Doing Business report

Podgorica, Montenegro (28 October 2015) -- Montenegro is ranked 46th out of 189 economies in the Doing Business 2016 ranking list, the World Bank announced earlier today. Considering the fact that this year’s report has introduced changes in the methodology in 7 out of 10 indicators, namely in "dealing with construction permits," "getting electricity," "registering property," "trading across borders," "protecting minority investors," "resolving insolvency" and "enforcing contracts," there has been certain shifts in the global ranking. In that regard, the last year's rankings, where Montenegro was ranked 36th has been revised so that, under the new methodology for the period June 2013 - June 2014, our country was ranked 47th. Therefore, Montenegro, compared to last year, moved up by 1 place, this year occupying the 46th position.

The new methodology is characterised by ranking on ease of doing business with regard to countries that are rated as the best practice in specific areas (distance to frontier score). Previous rankings were made with respect to average score of different countries within specific areas.

Montenegro's progress, recognised in the latest Doing Business is due primarily to the reforms implemented in the areas of "dealing with construction permits" and "paying taxes."

In the area of "dealing with construction permits," Montenegro moved up by 11 places, ranking 9th, due to decreased duration of the procedures (from 158 to 154 days) and reducing costs.

In the area of "paying taxes," Montenegro made an improvement (+33), occupying 64th place in the global ranking. Progress has been recognised in reducing procedures (from 29 to 17), shortening duration of the procedures (from 320 to 314 hours per year) and reducing costs.

Montenegro has maintained the last year's position in "enforcing contracts" and "trading across borders."

As to "starting a business," Montenegro suffered  a decline (-4) (from 55th to 59th), even though the number of the procedures, as well as their duration, remained the same, while progress was recognised in costs reduction (from 1.6% to 1.4% of income per capita).

Montenegro saw a drop in ranking in the field of “getting electricity” (-1) (from 162 to 163) due to an increase in a number of procedures (from 5 to 7) and in their duration (from 71 days to 142 days), while there was a decrease in costs from 467.9% to 464.8% of income per capita.

In the area of “registering property,” Montenegro suffered a slight decline, occupying the 79th position in the global ranking, whereas in the area of “protecting minority investors,” it saw a decline (-3), ranking 36th.

When it comes to "resolving insolvency" indicator, Montenegro experienced a drop in ranking (-3) (from 33 to 36), although the situation in sub-indicators remained unchanged compared to last year. At the same time, we emphasise that the number of sub-indicators decreased from 9 to 4.

In the region, only Macedonia (12), Slovenia (29) and Croatia (40) rank higher than Montenegro, while Serbia (59), Kosovo (66), Bosnia and Herzegovina (79) and Albania (97) rank lower, the 2016 Doing Business report concludes.