Government's Commission for valorisation of agricultural land in state ownership: Create preconditions for boosting investments, production and employment

Podgorica, Montenegro (5 June 2017) -- Having in mind the increasing interest of domestic and foreign investors when it comes to using the available land for agricultural production, the state is willing to be actively engaged in finding more optimal model for valorisation of the available land in Montenegro throughout the work of a newly established Commission with an aim of achieving economic benefits for the country.

Deputy Prime Minister for Economic and Financial System and Minister of Agriculture Milutin Simović reiterated the Government's commitment to creating preconditions for offering the state owned agricultural land in a more efficient manner due to a presence of qualitative investment initiatives. DPM said that we cannot allow ourselves to be avoided by the investors due to administrative barriers, particularly when it comes to the increased interest for the agricultural production in Montenegro. In that regard, agriculture and food production in Montenegro represent an opportunity for doing business, DPM Simović underlined, adding that this sector can count on the Government's strong support. "It is a luxury to stare at these abandoned hectares of cultivable land in state ownership, which Montenegro does not have many, and not to take an opportunity to valorise them," DPM Simović pointed out.

DPM Simović pointed out that the ambitious goals have been set, expressing the hope that this body will continuously and proactively work towards a more efficient valorisation of complexes of state land. He said that this project represents an opportunity for achieving a faster growth rate in the Montenegrin agriculture, modernisation, growth, competitiveness and employment, as well as an opportunity to contribute to the substitution of food imports and exports. “In short, the aim is to create preconditions for boosting investments, labor, production and employment through this segment of exploiting state resources,” DPM Simović highlighted.

The Commission will be tasked not only to coordinate and propose models related to the valuation of land and to prepare documentation for advertising, but also to proactively undertake other activities for protection, utilisation and overall improvement of agricultural land, in accordance with the regulation.

The Commission will pay special attention to the analysis of the status of the former cooperative property in Montenegro, in order to consider the possibilities for its full statutory valuation.