Press release: The 47th Cabinet session – 17 November 2021

The Montenegrin Cabinet, at its 47th session held on 17 November 2021, chaired by Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić, adopted the Roadmap for fulfilling the remaining obligations in the temporarily closed Chapter 30 - External relations. The document presents key challenges that remain and recommendations from the European Commission's Report on Montenegro for 2021. The Chapter 30 deals with the EU's common trade policy, bilateral agreements with third countries, as well as development policy and humanitarian aid. The acquis for this chapter largely consists of directly applicable EU legislation, which stems mainly from the Union's multilateral and bilateral trade obligations, as well as from a large number of autonomous trade measures. The key challenge for Montenegro in Chapter 30 is to strengthen administrative capacity, given that about 1/4 of the total EU acquis is under this chapter. Further harmonisation in the mentioned areas will contribute to the harmonisation of Montenegrin legislation with the best international practice, as well as to the improvement of the investment environment. Montenegro needs to strengthen its capacity to participate in development and humanitarian aid, as well as in the areas of export credits and foreign trade in controlled goods. It should also continue to strengthen the administrative capacity of the services in charge of CEFTA and World Trade Organisation (WTO) issues.

The Cabinet adopted decinions on the formation of working groups for the preparation and conduct of negotiations on Montenegro's accession to the European Union in the areas of the acquis communautaire, which relate to the Chapter 25 - Science and Research and Chapter 26 - Education and Culture. The composition of the working groups has been adjusted to the new circumstances and personnel changes that occurred after the formation of the new Cabinet, as well as to the circumstances that arose after the adoption of the New Enlargement Methodology.

In order to implement the Law on Food Safety and harmonise national legislation with the acquis communautaire, the Cabinet adopted a Decree amending the Decree on the use of health and nutrition claims in food labeling, advertising and presentation, as well as a Decree amending the maximum permitted level of food contaminants.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on activities on the implementation of renewable energy projects. The Information states that 34 new facilities for electricity production have been built so far, namely: 32 small hydropower plants (sHPPs) and two wind power plants, WPP Krnovo and WPP Možura. In this mandate, due to non-compliance with the obligations stipulated in the contract, the Government unilaterally terminated nine concession agreements, while one agreement on termination of the contract was concluded. Also, the concessionaire for the construction of the small hydroelectric power plant "Vinicka" in Berane expressed readiness to start the process of negotiations on concluding an agreement on the termination of the contract, with a possible agreement on compensation. It was also emphasised that there is a strong resistance of the population to the construction of small hydropower plants on the watercourses Crnja and Skrbuša (Rečine).

The Cabinet formed a Commission with representatives of relevant institutions, whose crucial role will be coordination within the system in order to more efficiently collect data and facts for the correct decision-making.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on activities on the implementation of the project of intensive rehabilitation of electricity power distribution network. Rehabilitation projects of medium voltage (MV) and low voltage (LV) distribution network are the most important investment projects in the electricity power distribution system of Montenegro and aim to provide the prescribed quality of power for rural areas and create preconditions for economic growth in these areas.

The Information on the implemented activities for the purpose of granting a concession for the use of water from the Otilovići reservoir through the construction of a small hydropower plant and the Concession Act for granting a concession for the use of water from the Otilovići reservoir for the construction of a small hydropower plant were adopted. The concession for the use of the Otilovići reservoir for the construction, maintenance and use of small hydropower plant for the electricity production will be given to Montenegrin Electric Enterprise (EPCG), as a joint stock company in which the State of Montenegro has majority ownership. The concession act stipulates that the concession is granted for a period of 30 years, in accordance with Article 8 of the Law on Concessions.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on the conclusion of the Donation Protocol between the Ministry of Defence of Montenegro and the Ministry of Defence of the Kingdom of Norway and accepted the text of the Protocol.

The Information of the National Council for the Fight against High-Level Corruption on the need to introduce a system of detailed electronic records of arrival and departure of goods from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar was adopted. The National Council points out the need to introduce an electronic system of records of all goods arriving and departuring from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar as soon as possible, which includes data on buyers and sellers of goods (including resale in the warehouse), type of goods, time of arrival and departure, vehicle identification marks, name of the freight forwarder and location of storage. Until direct access to data on the state of warehouses is enabled, it is necessary to collect data on the state of excise goods in warehouses in the Free Zone at least once a week, especially cigarettes, tobacco, paper and filters for making cigarettes. On that occasion, the Ministry of Finance and Social Welfare and the Revenue and Customs Administration are tasked to undertake all activities in order to introduce the system of detailed electronic records of arrival and departure of goods from the Free Zone of the Port of Bar.

The Cabinet adopted the Information of the National Council for the Fight against High-Level Corruption, with a recommendation to publish documentation related to the use of the official aircraft of the Government of Montenegro Lear Jet 45, registration number 40-MNE. The Secretariat-General of the Government is in charge of sending a request to the National Security Agency to submit an opinion on whether there are security obstacles to publishing this information and to publish documentation related to the use of aircraft based on the submitted opinion of the Agency.

The Information of the National Council for the Fight against High-Level Corruption on the need to revise the deadlines for preservation of archival material was adopted.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on concluding the Agreement between the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Montenegro and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America on cooperation in the GLOBE Programme and accepted the text of the Agreement. The goal of the Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Programmd is an international science and education programme that provides students and the public worldwide with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process, and contribute meaningfully to our understanding of the Earth system and global environment. Planned activities include the participation of the Ministry in identifying Montenegrin schools that will participate in the Programme, ensure that selected Montenegrin schools perform GLOBE environmental measurements, report data, receive and use the resulting global environmental images, using educational materials based on the guidelines of teachers trained to lead this Programme.

The Information on the Proposal of the Programme for the Fight against HIV/AIDS for 2021-2023 with the Action Plan for 2021-2022 and the Programme with the Action Plan for 2021-2022 were adopted.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on the malignant diseases and activities for the prevention and control of malignant diseases in Montenegro.

The Cabinet adopted the Information onthe Action Plan for the implementation of the Strategy for the Protection and Improvement of Mental Health in Montenegro for 2021-2023 and the Action Plan.