Gorčević: Ongoing EU support in financing reforms is important for progress in the accession process

At today’s session, the Government adopted two pieces of information prepared by the Ministry of European Affairs related to EU funding support for Montenegro: the Information on the Proposal to Amend the Financial Agreement for the period 2021–2027 between the Government of Montenegro and the European Commission on support for agriculture and rural development within the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance IPA III (IPARD III), and the Information on EU support programmes for Montenegro during 2025.

Minister of European Affairs Maida Gorčević emphasized the importance of continuous EU support through financing reforms in the EU accession process.

Gorčević recalled that the Financial Agreement on support for agriculture and rural development is worth €128.3 million.

“The EU provides €63 million in grants, national co-financing amounts to €18.98 million, while the private contribution of agricultural producers is €46.34 million,” said Gorčević. She noted that the Agreement defines the EU’s financial obligations and the rules for implementing Montenegro’s Agriculture and Rural Development Programme under IPARD III, explaining that the amendments relate to entrusting Montenegro with budget implementation tasks for Measure 9 – Technical Assistance, which includes activities for the efficient implementation, control, monitoring, and promotion of the IPARD III programme.

Gorčević stated that during 2025, contracting and implementation of projects under national IPA programmes from the 2014–2020 financial perspective (IPA II) continued, alongside the programming and implementation of projects within the 2021–2027 financial perspective (IPA III).

“During 2025, we signed 11 Financial Agreements or amendments to Financial Agreements, which form the basis for implementing annual IPA II and IPA III programmes, and completed the programming of the entire IPA III financial perspective. Overall, within indirectly managed national IPA II and IPA III programmes, a total of 90.30% was contracted and 93.27% disbursed under IPA II, while under IPA III, 40.59% of funds were contracted and 17.79% disbursed,” said Gorčević.

The Minister highlighted that during 2025, the implementation of eleven national technical assistance projects for the preparation of project documentation continued or began, with approximately €18.96 million allocated by the EU, as well as the implementation of twelve investment grants for eight projects, with an EU contribution of €166.50 million. She also noted that one call under the Western Balkans Investment Framework had been completed, approving an additional €14.84 million for new infrastructure projects financed through the Growth Plan.

She recalled that within European territorial cooperation programmes under the IPA II financial perspective, a total of 309 projects had been contracted, worth €78.5 million, and that most of these projects have already been completed or are in the final phase of implementation.

“Through Montenegro’s Reform Agenda 2024–2027 under the EU Reform and Growth Facility, €383.5 million has been allocated to Montenegro, of which €110 million are grants and €273.5 million are concessional loans. Of the total support, €178.5 million is planned to be provided as budget support, while the remaining €205 million will be allocated for financing infrastructure projects and implemented through the Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF),” Gorčević stated.