Montenegro's Cabinet Session

Podgorica, Montenegro (1 June 2017) -- At today's session, chaired by Prime Minister Duško Marković, the Government of Montenegro did not give approval to the relocation of High medical school from Berane to Podgorica, proposed by the University of Montenegro.

Explaining decision refusing the approval, the Prime Minister stated that he never heard of adequate grounds to support such a request of the University, and that the need for harmonisation with the EU directives can not be the reason for the Government to give approval at this moment.

The Government adopted Information on the application of Regulation on criteria for determining the events and festivals of special significance for the culture of Montenegro. As pointed out, the legal status of events and festivals does not contribute to the further development of culture, and current application of the Regulation indicated the need to adopt a new document in order to further regulate this important issue of cultural policy. It was noted that the new Regulation, which is planned for the end of June, should define the criteria that will not lead to the privatisation of public interest in culture and which will clearly define the conditions of the establishment of events and festivals, transparency and valid evaluation of results and financial reporting.

The Government adopted the Proposal to divert funds from the consumer unit of Ministry of Culture to the consumer units of Music Centre of Montenegro and Maritime Museum of Montenegro.

The Government of Montenegro adopted Draft Law on amendments to the Property Tax Law, abolishing a real estate taxpayer, who is the user of state-owned immovable property based on long-term lease, to pay taxes on real estate. This will contribute to improving the business environment, creating the conditions for new jobs and eliminating business barriers for investors who, according to previous Law, have to pay the property tax on the basis of long-term lease.

In order to improve competitiveness as one of the pillars of sustainable economic development and effective monitoring of the implementation of structural reforms, the Government adopted the Decision on establishing the Council for Competitiveness, chaired by Prime Minister Duško Marković. One of the main tasks of the Council is coordination of activities of state administration bodies and other competent bodies and institutions in the field of implementation of priority reform measures defined in the strategic development documents, which serve to eliminate key barriers to improved competitiveness and faster economic growth of Montenegro.

Information on credit for the project “Reform of tax administration” was adopted as well. The project will be implemented in cooperation with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in order to increase operational efficiency and tax administration, particularly in the area of capacity development for management and information technology. On this occasion, the Government determined the composition of the Montenegrin delegation for negotiations.

The Government was informed at today’s session about the Report of the Commission to monitor the competent authorities in investigating cases of threats of violence against journalists, murders of journalist and attacks on media property for the period from 23 January to 23 May 2017.

Among other things, the Government adopted a Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Reports of Montenegro on realisation of the International Convention on the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination, as well as a Report on the implementation of the Monitoring plan of the Law on amendments to the Criminal Procedure Code, for the period September 2016 – February 2017.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO