Business Environment Macroeconomic Outlook Capital Market Banking Sector Privatization and Investments Economic Freedom Business News In the Spotlight Coming up...
Privatization and Investments This is testimony to the healthy economic political situation that the new government, led by Prime Minister Mr. Igor Lukšić, is promoting. In an interview with Reuters, Mr. Lukšić stated that Montenegro is expecting €600 million of foreign investment to be made in real estate, energy and tourism over the next couple of years. The Montenegrin economy will grow this year by around 2.5%, while during next year the level of growth is expected to reach somewhere in the region of 4%. This growth will be the result of foreign direct investments.
The new investors will clearly benefit from the new reforms and economic changes that are being made and the Montenegrin government is keen to ensure that it looks after the interests of investors. Being a small country, Montenegro is capable of making reforms that will benefit not only the government but also foreign investors. Already, many projects in the areas of energy and tourism are well underway.
Investments Exploration for Natural Gas is Getting Closer to Realization The Ministry of Economy of Montenegro and the consortium Trans Adriatic Pipeline have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding and Cooperation to explore the opportunities for developing a natural gas market and for enhancing the diversity of supplies in South East Europe. The Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation is a significant step towards increasing the security of supply and for ensuring the diversification of gas resources in South East Europe. As natural gas has various applications in different fields it could also be used to underpin the further development of the Montenegrin economy in line with today’s environmental requirements.
The Battle for Black Gold in Montenegro Begins Companies such as Gazprom (Russia), Statoil (Norway), Total (France), ENI (Italy), Novatek (Russia), INA (Croatia), HESS Corporat (UK), and Sterling Energy PLC (UK) have sent letters of interest regarding the exploration of Montenegrin oil and gas reserves. This comes as good news, considering that regulations for the application of the law “On the Exploration and Production of Hydrocarbons” is currently being prepared. It is planned that this project will have a clear plan by the end of this year, or by the beginning of next year, when the results of the competition for this matter will be announced.)
Kempinski Signs Provisional Contract for a Montenegrin Resort As a capitol of tourism in Montenegro, Budva represents a great opportunity for foreign investors in term of tourism development. According to local authorities’ estimations, approximately EUR 1bn could be invested in building elite tourist facilities. The hotel chain Kempinski will sign the contract with the Russian company Was Invest, which had purchased about 200,000 square meters of land in Smokvica Montenegro. Provisional contract between these two parties has already been signed, while the formal one will be drafted in Berlin.
14
Great Interest of the Italian Companies for Investing in Montenegro Montenegrin Investment Promotion Agency (MIPA) supported by Italian Institute for Foreign trade (ICE) held a conference about trade and economic opportunities in Montenegro on 8th June 2011. Over 150 Italian companies participated (a remarkable outcome for a country with only 600 thousand inhabitants). The event, which was opened with a country video presentation produced by MIPA, was widely considered to have been a success. The event had a very pragmatic approach. In the morning speakers from MIPA talked about investment opportunities and the facilities currently available from international organizations such as EBRD, WB and IEB. In the afternoon there were a number of B2B meetings with Italian companies, in which much more information was provided as a result of individual company requests. Later in the day, there were also a number of interviews including participants such as Petar Ivanović, CEO of MIPA and Luca Gentile, ICE officer for Italian Investments in Montenegro. Currently about 20 applications for Practical Cooperation in trade and investment have been received at MIPA. A delegation of Italian companies will therefore visit Montenegro in the autumn to check out its interesting potential. The contacts that were made with the representatives from the international institutions have helped to trigger a lively exchange of information and an interest in participating in future seminars in both Montenegro and in Rome. More specifically, the next planned event is being organized with the Abruzzo region and is expected to take place in Podgorica on July 7th. The event is about fishing and will involve the EBRD at the invitation of the ICE officer posted in Montenegro. It is also expected that there will be another event in Rome on September 15th at the Zero Emission Fair. This event will be attended by an expert from the Ministry of Energy of Montenegro. The Italian daily newspaper “La Repubblica” is about to publish an article about Montenegro, and its great upward trend in economic terms.