Press release from the 15th Cabinet session

The Montenegrin Cabinet held its 15^th session, chaired by Prime Minister Milojko Spajić. The Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on the ratification of the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on appellations of origin and geographical indications. The Lisbon Agreement is administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and facilitates the protection and international registration of appellations of origin. Appellations of origin are a type of geographical indication for products that have a strong connection to their place of origin, indicating that the product's characteristics and qualities are essentially linked to its geographical location. The Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement expands this protection to include geographical indications identifying specific goods as originating from the territory of a particular state, region, or locality, where certain qualities, reputation, or other characteristics of the goods can be attributed to their geographical origin. Fourteen members, including the European Union as a whole, have acceded to the Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement.

The Cabinet adopted a Decision on establishing the National control list of weapons and military equipment. The reasons for adopting the National control list stem from the need to harmonize it with the EU's Common Military List, adopted by the Council on 20 February 2023. The Decision represents a codified solution, categorizing goods into 22 categories divided into areas of use labeled with the internationally recognized ML (Military List) designation. Thus, through the implementation of this act, Montenegro controls the export, import, transit, brokering, and technical assistance of arms and military equipment, contributing to international peace and security and preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction.

The Cabinet has granted consent for the leasing of state-owned real estate for a period of 30 years for the construction of a wind farm in the municipality of Šavnik. The Minister of Spatial Planning, Urbanism, and State Property is tasked with forming a Commission for leasing state-owned real estate. The Ministry has prepared draft auction documentation, including a public invitation, confidentiality statement, informational memorandum, draft long-term lease agreement, and auction participation application. The public invitation envisages the leasing of the subject land, with an area of 2,033,897 m², for a period of 30 years for the design, construction, exploitation, and maintenance of a wind farm, with an installed capacity of 6.6 KW per wind turbine, at an initial annual lease price of 569,500 euros.

All legal and natural persons, as well as consortia, who have purchased auction documentation, paid a deposit amounting to 5% of the initial lease price, signed the draft contract, and registered as participants in the auction, have the right to participate in the public tender.

The Cabinet adopted the the Report on the work of the Commission for monitoring the actions of competent authorities in investigations of threats and violence against journalists, murders of journalists, and attacks on media property for the period from 23 June to 30 November 2023. This marks the sixth consecutive report, covering various incidents and supplements related to attacks and threats against journalists and media property.

The report encompasses the following reports and report supplements: report regarding the attack on the editor-in-chief of Vijesti, Mihailo Jovović, and photojournalist Boris Pejović in 2009, supplement to the report regarding the murder of Duško Jovanović, editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper Dan, report on the attack on journalist Jadranka Ćetković from Vijesti on 19 April 2022, report on the attack on Jadranka Ćetković on 17 June 2022, supplement to the report regarding threats to the executive director of TV Vijesti, Marijana Kadić Bojanić, in 2015, report on the case of threats against journalists Jelena Jovanović and Vuk Lajović in 2015, supplement to the report on the case of journalist Pavlović Obrad from 2016, supplement to the report on the attack on the property of journalist Zorica Bulatović in 2015. Additionally, general recommendations have been provided to competent authorities aimed at improving the effectiveness of investigations and avoiding impunity for attacks on journalists. These recommendations also aim at evaluating the performance of prosecutors and police officers in investigations of attacks on journalists during career progression.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on the proposal for appointing the National Authorizing Officer (NAO) responsible for financial management of the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) programmes and the effective functioning of internal control systems in Montenegro. Montenegro, as a candidate country for membership in the European Union, has been utilizing the IPA since 2007. At present, there are two financial programming periods: 2014-2020 (IPA II) and 2021-2027 (IPA III). As the European Commission aims to gradually transfer responsibility for managing funds to the beneficiary country, parallel to strengthening institutions in preparation for EU membership, the appointment of the NAO is of particular importance. The NAO, operating within the framework of the indirect management model, is responsible for the effective functioning of internal control systems and financial management of IPA programmes. During the discussion, it was clarified that the NAO bears responsibility for the efficient operation of the internal control system for implementing IPA assistance in accordance with the Framework Agreement and for managing the accounts of IPA financial resources. Milica Adžić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, has been appointed as the NAO.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on settling the obligations of the Government of Montenegro to the Export-Import Bank of China based on the state guarantee issued for the credit arrangement concluded between Crnogorska plovidba AD Kotor (Montenegrin Shipping) and the Export-Import Bank of China.

Considering that Crnogorska plovidba, despite operating positively for nine months, is unable to provide the participation for the repayment of the January installment of the loan, the Government has accepted the request of the Export-Import Bank of China for the settlement of due obligations based on the issued guarantee. The amount totals to $2,478,810 USD, increased for additional interest costs that will be calculated from the due date to the payment date, converted into euros at the exchange rate on the day of payment. During the discussion, it was emphasised that the Government found itself in a position to address one of the inherited problems stemming from past poor decisions. As the guarantor under the respective credit arrangement, the Government is obliged to settle the obligation to the Borrower, considering that the obligation is based on the Guarantee Agreement. In order to maintain Montenegro's reputation and trust with international creditors, this obligation must be fulfilled without delay. It is important to note that, according to previous practice, the Ministry of Finance will demand the Company to reimburse the costs incurred by the State in relation to the settlement of obligations related to the guarantee. Additionally, the Ministry of Finance will inform the Protector of Property and Legal Interests of Montenegro and provide the necessary documentation to take all necessary actions to protect the property and legal interests of the State.

The Cabinet adopted a Decision on detailed criteria for the utilization of funds from the current and permanent budget reserves. In accordance with the Budget Law and fiscal responsibility regulations, which stipulate that funds from the current reserve should be used for unplanned and insufficiently planned expenditures during the fiscal year, while funds from the permanent reserve should be allocated for urgent and unforeseen expenditures, the Decision outlines closer definitions of criteria, procedures, and hierarchy of responsibilities regarding the use of funds from both reserves.

Furthermore, the Decision establishes rules and limitations for securing necessary funds to finance the regular activities of consumer units and to provide assistance to legal and physical entities. Additionally, it specifies the role of the Commission in allocating a portion of the budget reserve funds in accordance with the law.

The Cabinet has made decisions regarding the establishment of negotiating working groups for the preparation and conduct of negotiations on Montenegro's accession to the European Union concerning 23 negotiation chapters, namely: Chapter 6 – Company Law, Chapter 7 – Intellectual Property Law, Chapter 8 – Competition Policy, Chapter 20 – Enterprise and Industrial Policy, Chapter 22 – Regional Policy and Coordination of Structural Instruments, Chapter 32 – Financial Control, Chapter 33 – Financial and Budgetary Provisions, Chapter 3 – Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services, Chapter 4 – Free Movement of Capital, Chapter 25 – Science and Research, Chapter 26 – Education and Culture, Chapter 9 – Financial Services, Chapter 16 – Taxation, Chapter 17 – Economic and Monetary Union, Chapter 18 – Statistics, Chapter 14 – Transport Policy, Chapter 15 – Energy, Chapter 21 – Trans-European Networks, Chapter 28 – Consumer and Health Protection, Chapter 29 – Customs Union, Chapter 5 – Public Procurement, Chapter 11 – Agriculture and Rural Development, Chapter 13 – Fisheries.

Additionally, an Information was adopted regarding the need for co-financing the work of the Anti-Doping Commission. In light of this, the Ministry of Sports and Youth is tasked with allocating €210,000 to the Anti-Doping Commission to fulfill its regular duties in combating doping. Of this amount, €100,000 will be transferred by 10 March of this year, with the remaining €110,000 to be transferred by 10 August of the current year.