Press release of the sixth session of the Government of Montenegro

At the 6^th session held today, chaired by Prime Minister MEc Milojko Spajić, the Cabinet adopted the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Border Control. This Law will enable the residents of the border-area to cross the state border outside the officially open border crossings and create a legal basis for setting the cost compensation in the amount of 30 euros for processing of requests and issuing a border pass or permit for border traffic, under the principle of reciprocity and in accordance with signed bilateral agreements on border crossing for border traffic with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Republic of Serbia and Republic of Kosovo. The purpose of the Law amendments is to facilitate movement between border areas and crossing of the joint state border to the residents of the border areas of Montenegro and the neighbouring countries in the spirit of good neighbourly relations, with intention to develop and enhance economic, educational, health, social, cultural, sport and other types of cooperation. Also, the Law is harmonised with the Regulation (EC) no. 1931/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down rules on local border traffic at the external land borders of the EU member states.

The Cabinet adopted the Decision on introducing international restrictive measures established by decisions of the Council of the European Union concerning the state of play in the region Pridnestrovie in the Republic of Moldova. In order to ensure continued allignment with the common EU foreign and security policy, this Decision restricts the entry into the territory of Montenegro, or transit through its territory, of persons responsible for the design and implementation of the campaign of intimidation and closure against Latin-script Moldovan schools in the Pridnestrovie in the Republic of Moldova.     

The Cabinet adopted the Draft of Urban Design for the complex of Eastern Orthodox Church, along with the Public discussion programme, in duration of 15 working days. As stated in the discussion, planning basis for the development of Urban Design “Complex of the Eastern Orthodox Church” is provided in the Detailed Urban Plan “Podkošljun”, which lays down mandatory development of urban design for the complex of Eastern Orthodox Church, which is planned in block 118, and also for expansion of cemetery, which is planned in block 29. Environmental and functional connectivity, in addition to urban disposition, indicate the necessity of planned review of blocks 19 and 29 as a unique unit of around 3.30 ha. In that regard, the Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property was assigned to organize public discussion and after that, prepare and submit to the Cabinet a Proposal for Urban Design, including the Report on conducted public discussion.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on Annex 2 of the Agreement on business premises lease for accommodation of Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) within the Directorate for Classified Information Protection, and adopted the draft of Annex 2 of the Agreement. The Annex stipulates conditions for continuing the use of business premises until permanent accommodation capacities for CIRT have been provided.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on accession of Montenegro to a group of donors in the International Development Association (IDA). IDA is part of the World Bank that helps the world’s poorest countries. Established in 1960, it aims to reduce poverty by providing low-interest loans and grants for programmes that boost economic growth, reduce inequalities and improve people’s living conditions. IDA’s global presence and its leading role in defining development policy enable smaller donors to reach the wider spectre of IDA funds users and lay down reform policies that would result in positive development impact. As an IDA donor, Montenegro will obtain a certain number of voting rights, that will be proportionally allocated to the amount of its expected contribution, as a potential donor, of one million euros. Upon the submission of the Instrument of Commitment, Montenegro will acquire the status of IDA donor, and thus will be in the position to contribute to shaping the IDA policy for future replenishment of IDA funds, in compliance with Montenegro’s development priorities (eg. environment, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture). After assessing that the initiative is in accordance with the national interests of the State, the Cabinet gave consent to approve the donation in the amount of 1,000,000 euros to the International Development Association – IDA, which will be paid in three equal yearly instalments until 30 June 2025.

The Cabinet adopted the Information on the “Eko fond” initiative to introduce electric and hybrid vehicles for the needs of public sector. The Information states that the traffic sector is the second largest source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emission in Montenegro, with total share of 30%, mainly caused by road traffic. According to the Transport Development Strategy for Montenegro 2019 – 2035, a significant increase in road traffic is expected in future and it will inevitably have impact on the increase of gas emissions with the greenhouse effect in this sector. It is concluded that, within the implementation of measures for air quality improvement and improvement of environment quality, it is necessary to encourage the acquisition of environmentally friendly type of transport, particularly in the public sector, in order to assist stopping the growing trend of gas emission with greenhouse effect. To that end, Eko-fond expressed willingness to provide subsidies for the acquisition of electric and hybrid vehicles for public sector in the amount of 7,500 euros for electric vehicles, and 4,000 euros for hybrid vehicles. In that regard, the Cabinet assigned all ministries, authority bodies and recommended the local self-government units to plan the acquisition of electric and hybrid vehicles within the process of acquiring vehicles and replacement of old vehicles with the new ones, except in cases of acquisition of vehicles for special purposes in accordance with special regulations.

Report on the implementation of the State Plan for Waste Management in 2022 was adopted. As stated in the discussion, the Report was developed based on information submitted by local self-government units, competent institutions in the area of waste management, legal entities and entrepreneurs conducting waste management activities. Based on submitted information, as stated in the document, utility companies in Montenegro in 2022 collected 292,077 tons of communal waste including bulky waste and so-called “green” waste. The total amount of separately collected recyclable waste, paper, paperboard, plastics and metal from communal waste is 4,479 tons, bulky waste 17,352 and so-called “green” waste 16,512 tons. Also, it is estimated that in addition to registered disposal sites, there is a significant number of unregistered unarranged waste disposal sites, and since the low level of public awareness and responsibility of citizens concerning waste is noticeable, the Report stated that it is necessary to constantly work on education related to environmental and economic benefits of proper waste management. To that end, relevant authorities and institutions were assigned to establish an information system and a comprehensive data base in the area of waste management, to provide support to local self-government units for the implementation of infrastructure projects in the area of waste management, particularly in the Northern region, and also to continue cooperation with non-government organizations, with the purpose to increase environmental awareness.