Press release from the 86th Cabinet session

At today's 86th session chaired by Prime Minister Mr. Milojko Spajić, the Montenegrin Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on management, internal control and internal audit in the public sector. The law is aimed at aligning with the recommendations of Sigma and the European Commission in areas related to governance principles, internal control, managerial accountability, and harmonisation with the new Global Internal Audit Standards (IIA).

The Cabinet also adopted the Draft Law on the Protection of Equality and Prohibition of Discrimination. The law emphasises the obligation to align all other laws that regulate the prohibition of discrimination, while simultaneously enhancing the character of the law and its subject matter in the promotion of equality as a key principle of this law. By adopting the Law, the system of protection against discrimination will be strengthened and full compliance with the relevant legal framework of the European Union will be ensured.

The today’s session also endorsed the Draft Law Amending the Law on the Protection of Persons and Property. The amendment to the Law removes discrimination based on citizenship by allowing citizens of EU member states, the European Economic Area, or the Swiss Confederation to hold positions as responsible persons in companies, other legal entities, and entrepreneurs, for whom a license for conducting protection activities is issued, regardless of whether they meet the residency or approved stay conditions in Montenegro. This is done in order to fulfill the obligations from the final benchmark 4 for Chapter 3 - Right of Establishment and Freedom to Provide Services.

The Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on Railways. The creation of a unified EU railway market supports the opening of the national market in terms of recognising foreign licenses for transport in railway traffic, issued in accordance with Directive on the single railway market No. 2012/34. The law specifies that the recognition of foreign licenses will take place on the day Montenegro joins the European Union. The law will apply to public transport of passengers and goods, as well as to the transport of persons and goods for personal needs in railway traffic, and the proposed solutions achieve a higher degree of compliance with EU regulations for the previously mentioned issues that are addressed through the implementation of the Fourth EU Railway Package. The adoption of the law will indirectly affect the increased competitiveness of railway traffic compared to other modes of transport, which is based on the quality of service that is inferior to road transport, both in passenger and freight transport.

The Government adopted the Information regarding the request for support in preparing a project within the Grant Fund of the World Bank for non-refundable funds. The projects for regulating the Lim and Grnčar rivers are being implemented through the regional Integrated River Corridor Development Program of the Sava and Drina Rivers (SDIP), which represents one of the largest initiatives of the World Bank in the area of water management, encompassing four countries of the region (Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia) with a total anticipated value of around EUR 330 million, focusing on infrastructure development and flood protection. Under the financing agreement signed in October 2020 between the Ministry of Finance and the World Bank, EUR 15 million in loan funds has been allocated for Montenegro to finance the first phase of the integrated development programme for the river corridors of the Sava and Drina, whose implementation is ongoing. Preparations are underway for the second phase of the Integrated Development Program for the river corridors of the Sava and Drina. The project is aligned with the developmental priorities of Montenegro and the World Bank framework for Montenegro. To provide additional support for the preparation of the second phase of this project, the World Bank Grant Fund has provided assistance in the form of a grant amounting to EUR 500,000 for Montenegro. Additional financial support, as emphasised in the meeting, is crucial in this preparatory phase to ensure a solid technical and institutional foundation for readiness to implement the project. Planned activities under the Grant agreement include:

• Ensuring readiness for procurement within infrastructure investments,
• development of key technical studies that will guide the design and implementation of the planned infrastructure, and,
• creation of instruments for the Framework for Environmental and Social Protection (ESF) in accordance with the World Bank standards.

For the financing of the second phase of the project, it is planned to secure additional credit funds from the World Bank, the value of which will be known after the activities conducted under the Grant agreement. These activities will enable timely and coordinated investments that will help Montenegro address the needs in the area of river regulation and transboundary water management.

The Montenegrin Cabinet adopted the Regulation on the cessation of validity of the regulation on how to acquire the status and exercise the rights of a privileged electricity. Considering that the existing Regulation on how to acquire the status and exercise the rights of a privileged electricity producer ("Official Gazette of Montenegro", number 89/20) was adopted based on the previous law, it is no longer in accordance with the new normative solutions. Furthermore, Article 43, paragraph 7 of the Law on the Use of Energy from Renewable Sources explicitly states that this matter will henceforth be regulated by a rulebook adopted by the minister responsible for energy affairs. Therefore, it is necessary to repeal the existing regulation in order to create the conditions for the adoption of a new rulebook that will precisely and legally regulate the procedure for acquiring the status and exercising the rights of a privileged producer, in accordance with the applicable legislative framework.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on the demands of Elektroprivreda Crne Gore AD Nikšić for the consent of the Government of Montenegro for long-term borrowing in the amount of EUR 25.625 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development for the implementation of the second phase of the Gvozd 2 wind farm project with an installed capacity of 21 MW.