Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic meets Olivier Descamps, EBRD Director for Southern and Eastern Europe

Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic met today in Podgorica with Olivier Descamps, Director for Southern and Eastern Europe of the European Bank for Reconstruction and development.

Prime Minister Djukanovic thanked Mr. Descamps for his past support and commitment and emphasized the importance the Government of Montenegro attached to further development of partnership with the EBRD on the projects of strategic importance for Montenegros development.

It was mutually agreed that the quality of cooperation on a series of projects in the field of banking sector, infrastructure and privatization worth 23 million was high, which constituted adequate groundwork for its further development. By the same token, the Prime Minister and Mr. Descamps exchanged views on future aspects of cooperation and observed that particular emphasis should be placed on the support programs for small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurship. Mr. Descamps pointed out that the EBRD had already drafted its strategy for the following two years and announced that the EBRD Board of Directors was scheduled to visit Montenegro in mid-October before the official adoption of the strategy.

With respect to the privatization of KAP, Descamps stressed that the privatization procedure has so far been constructive and transparent. The Prime Minister and Mr. Descamps agreed that successful implementation of KAPs privatization process was of critical importance for Montenegro and expressed readiness to continue close cooperation.