Brussels: Around EUR 413 million to Montenegro from the Growth Plan

“The Government of Montenegro is strongly determined to work on planning and monitoring the implementation of reforms, which will contribute to the economic and overall development of society and speed up the EU accession process, together with the European Commission, through the instrument of the Growth Plan. Based on existing recommendations, including previous economic and reform programs, enlargement package and existing political dialogues, the Government of Montenegro will prepare the Reform Agenda, as a proposal for measures aimed at reform and growth”, said the members of the Delegation of the Government of Montenegro in Brussels.

Today, they discussed the Growth Plan and priorities of Reform Agenda with representatives of the European Commission. On behalf of the Government, the meeting was attended by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development, Nik Gjeloshaj, as well as the Ministers of European Affairs and Energy and Mining, Maida Gorčević and Saša Mujović.

The European Commission, in addition to the existing support for the countries of the Western Balkans, proposed an additional investment package of EUR 6 billion through the provision of EUR 2 billion in grants, and EUR 4 billion in the form of soft loans. Of that amount, around EUR 413 million are planned for Montenegro.

The representatives of the European Commission pointed out that, through financial support from the EU, Montenegro is encouraged to simultaneously increase the rate of economic growth and speed up the process of accession to the European Union, in the short term through a combination of reforms and investments. As they said, in this way, with the already defined funds that the Western Balkans have available, they will be equal to the financial support that EU citizens receive on average, for the first time.

“In this way, the EU wants to encourage economic growth, reduce the significant difference in the standard of living between the Western Balkans and the EU, and encourage the region to implement more intensive reforms in the process of European integration,” the representatives of the EC said.

The ministers said that the Government will prepare and submit a proposal for the Reform Agenda as soon as possible, with concrete proposals for support measures in three priority areas: business environment, digitalization and innovation, and energy. The Government will propose between 60 and 80 reform measures, which will be implemented in the next 4 years, which is a prerequisite for the allocation of part of the financial support.

Also, as it was pointed out, part of the Agenda will include key reforms related to the rule of law and public administration, which are of particular importance for the EU accession process.

A significant part of the reforms that are the subject of the Growth Plan has already been defined within the framework of the negotiation process, which will contribute to the quality and speed up the preparation of the Reform Agenda. A good basis for this document will be the preparation of the new Program of Economic Reforms 2024-2026, as well as the recommendations from the recently published EC Report on Montenegro.

“The Government of Montenegro will carry out an economic reform, will improve the environment for small and medium-sized enterprises, and will strengthen inspection so that the informal economy becomes in the zone of formality. This is how we will fulfill the expectations, which are not only the requirements of the European Union but the goal of the Government. We want to create such an environment to attract as many funds as possible from the Growth Plan. Montenegro is a very dedicated Euro-Atlantic country and a credible NATO partner, and we hope that it will be the next member of the European Union,” said the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Development, Nik Gjeloshaj.

“Montenegro has a unique opportunity to, based on the quality preparation and successful implementation of the Growth Plan, achieve significant economic progress as well as progress in the negotiation process,” said Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević. She added that the Government is determined to speed up the implementation of reforms in the area of the rule of law, as well as to fulfill the recommendations from this year’s EC Report in the short term.

“We have an ambitious but realistic deadline. The government will prepare and propose a set of reforms by mid-December when the EU Summit – Western Balkans is planned,” said Gorčević.

“The Montenegrin Government and the newly formed Ministry of Energy and Mining face many challenges, but also development opportunities. We have an intense period of activity ahead of us. The digitalization of the national electricity distribution system, energy transition, and decarbonization through capacity building in the field of solar, hydro, and wind potential, as well as strengthening the transmission and distribution network are high on our agenda,” Mujović pointed out and added that Montenegro wants the support of the EU in the matter of starting the production of “green steel”, said the Minister of Energy and Mining, Saša Mujović.