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Press release from 179th Cabinet session

Published on: Jun 26, 2020 1:12 AM Author: PR Service

The Cabinet passed the Information on the activities on the implementation of the Bar-Boljare motorway project, which states that the total percentage of performed works on the construction of the priority section Smokovac - Mateševo at this moment is about 89 percent.

The percentage of performed earthworks on the open route is more than 90 percent, and the total percentage of performed works on the open route is about 70 percent.

The tunnel breakthrough was completed and the primary support was made on all 16 tunnels. Works on the construction of the secondary lining are in progress. Works on the upper part of the secondary lining were completed 99.5 percent or in the length of 35.3 km.

So far, about 99 percent of the works have been completed on the bridges, on the positions of the pillars and foundations, while about 96 percent of the works have been completed on the upper part of the bridges. The total percentage of works on bridges with finishing works (waterproofing, protective steel fences, installations…) is 91 percent.

Along with the works on the priority section, activities are being intensified to create preconditions for the beginning of the works on the next two sections (Mateševo - Andrijevica and Smokovac - Tološi - Farmaci), which are defined by the Detailed Spatial Plan of the Bar - Boljare motorway as Phase II. Due to the level of current indebtedness of Montenegro, and taking into account the recommendations of key programme documents, it is planned that the next section of the motorway will be implemented according to some of the modalities of private-public partnership, in order to reduce additional indebtedness. Accordingly, in November 2018, the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Affairs applied to the Western Balkans Investment Framework to allocate EUR 54.6 million to co-finance the construction of the Mateševo-Andrijevica section, which represents 20% of the estimated capital expenditure for the construction of this section worth EUR 273 million (estimated on the basis of the Preliminary Design). An additional 20 percent is intended to be secured through loan borrowing from the EBRD, and the remaining 60 percent from interested private partners.

The Decree on the manner of planning and implementation of centralised public procurement was passed. It was explained that the goal of the new Decree is to overcome the problems in the application of the valid act, to achieve a greater degree of efficiency in the planning and implementation of centralised public procurement procedures, as well as to define penal norms.

As part of the harmonisation of national legislation with European standards, the Cabinet passed a Decree amending the Decree on the minimum set of services within the scope of Universal Service. The new solution prescribes that the Universal Directory should be available in electronic form, while the printed form is excluded from the minimum set of services.

In order to ensure the implementation of the new Law on Food Safety and full harmonisation with the acquis communautaire, the Cabinet passed the Decree on microbiological criteria for food safety, as well as a Decree amending the Decree on food treatment with ionizing radiation.


In order to ensure the beginning of work and efficient functioning of the Eco Fund, whose establishment created conditions for providing a stable and permanent source of funding for activities in the field of environment, the Cabinet adopted the Decision on financial compensation for the President and members of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Protection Fund LLC. 

The Cabinet defined the Strategy for Cooperation with the Diaspora - Emigrants for the period 2020-2023, with the Action Plan for the period 2020-2021. The new Strategy improves relations between the homeland and the diaspora and defines measures and activities to protect the position of the Montenegrin national community in the countries of the region, which is a confirmation that the diaspora is highly positioned on the agenda of political priorities of state bodies and institutions. 

The Information on activities and projects implemented through the system of indirect management of IPA funds was passed. The Information is designed to present the main activities that have taken place in the past six months, highlighting the key risks in the system, which need to be addressed in order to improve the efficiency and dynamics of the use of pre-accession support funds. Significant segments related to the institutional functioning of the established IPA structures are covered. Furthermore, information related to business dynamics, caused by the emergency situation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, is presented.

After declaring the COVID-19 epidemic and understanding the situation in Montenegrin society as a whole, the European Union supported Montenegro in the fight against the spread of the virus and remediation of the economic consequences of the epidemic with EUR 53 million. These funds have already been allocated through the IPA 2016, IPA 2018, IPA 2019 and IPA 2020 programmes, and further redirected to remediation of the consequences caused by the novel virus. Of this amount, EUR 3 million in emergency support was allocated from the European Integration Instrument, which is an integral part of the IPA 2018 programme. The European Commission has allocated the remaining EUR 50 million for long-term remediation of the epidemic consequences by reallocating funds already approved for IPA 2016, IPA 2018, IPA 2019 and IPA 2020.

In accordance with the suggestions of the European Commission, taking into account the readiness of the documentation of projects whose funds have been redirected and their relevance for Montenegro, they are planned to be proposed for funding through the upcoming IPA III financial perspective for which programming has already begun. The Cabinet assessed that it is extremely important that when programming a new perspective, the relevant institutions are guided by real needs and apply for projects that are partially or fully mature, in order to reduce the risk of their late contracting and shortened implementation deadlines.

The Cabinet passed the Programme for realisation of the "Open Science" principles in Montenegro with the 2020 – 2022 Action Plan. The programme is based on the vision of Montenegro that research activities should be based on the principles of Open Science, which means that it must serve the whole society and that the public funds aimed at funding research activities should be spent in an efficient and transparent manner. This can be achieved through open access to publications, research data and research infrastructure. As one of the problematic issues in Montenegro is the lack of cooperation between academic institutions and the economy, it is expected that the dissemination of research results, in the manner envisaged by the Open Science policy, will contribute to motivating the national economy to invest in research projects. 

The Information on activities on the implementation of the Decision on criteria, method and procedure for selection of persons who may acquire Montenegrin citizenship by admission for the purpose of implementation of special investment programme of particular importance for the business and economic interest of Montenegro for the second quarter of 2020 was passed.

The Information states that the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism assessed that two of the proposed projects meet the requirements for candidacy on the List of development projects in the field of tourism, as follows: 1) Construction project of Hotel "K16", Kolašin, submitted by "SKI RESORT KOLAŠIN 1600" LLC, which the Cabinet, at the session of 23 April 2020, at the proposal of this Ministry, included on the List of development projects in the field of tourism. This is a project which, among other things, plans to invest in the construction of a 4-star hotel in Kolašin, with a capacity of 116 accommodation units, estimated budget of EUR 5,998,750, and the investor's intention is to create 58 new jobs within the hotel. 2) Construction project of the hotel "Boka Place", Tivat according to a mixed business model, submitted by the "PM 4.1" LLC as a subsidiary of the company "Adriatic Marinas", Tivat, which the Cabinet, at the session of 11 June 2020, included on the List of development projects in the field of tourism. This is a new project that is being implemented within the hotel and tourist complex Porto Montenegro. The investment plans construction of a hotel according to a mixed business model of 5-star category, with capacity of 240 accommodation units, estimated value of EUR 43.67 million, and the investor intends to create 96 new jobs.

In the reporting period, one application was rejected, because the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, in the process of evaluating the submitted documentation, stated that it does not meet the conditions for applying to the List of development projects in the field of tourism.

The Prime Minister informed the Cabinet about the results of the dialogue conducted with numerous social actors within his Alliance for Europe initiative, as well as about the plan of further activities arising from the dialogue.

Aleksandar Zeković was appointed State Secretary at the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights, and Danka Perović was appointed Director General of the Directorate for Payments at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

The Cabinet proposed to the shareholder meeting of the "Montenegro Airlines" LLC Podgorica, due to the expiration of the mandate of the members of the Board of Directors of this company, to elect Nikola Vukićević, Edin Mulić, Dragan Popović, Dženan Demić and Miroslav Bjelica as members of the new Board of Directors.

It was proposed to the shareholder meeting of "Crnogorska plovidba" LLC Kotor, due to the expiration of the mandate of the members of the Board of Directors of this company, to elect Borislav Kašćelan, Mimo Drašković and Armin Mujević as members of the new Board of Directors.

PUBLIC RELATIONS SERVICE OF THE GOVERNMENT OF MONTENEGRO

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