Economic Council of the Municipality Tivat
The president of the municipality of Tivat, Zeljko Komnenovic, chaired the third meeting of the Economic Council held yesterday. This advisory body, which consists of representatives of the local economy, discussed issues of administrative and communal fees and charges, spatial planning documentation related to business zones, prices and quality of communal services in Tivat, as well as the drafted Municipal Budget for 2021.
Welcoming those present, the president of the municipality, Zeljko Komnenovic, emphasized that he was pleased to greet the members of the Economic Council and hear the opinion of those who are directly involved in the business sector of Tivat. He emphasized that the modality of cooperation with businessmen will undergo significant changes in the coming period, and that this cooperation will be especially strengthened, but on a completely new basis. “There are no small and large businessmen, small and large companies, you are all equally important and through intensive cooperation, we will do our best to improve the business environment in Tivat,” Komnenović pointed out.
“We are in the process of obtaining an internationally recognized certificate for a favorable business environment and out of 10 set criteria and 67 sub-criteria, we have fulfilled 83.3% of the set activities, which makes us a serious candidate for obtaining this prestigious certificate.” For a longer period of time, it will be a guarantee to all new potential investors and companies that want to work in Tivat, that this environment is suitable for business. This is not just a certificate of the municipality of Tivat as an institution. This is a certificate of all of us, and on this occasion I invite all businessmen and strategic investors to use it in all their marketing materials, the moment we are positively evaluated by the evaluators and officially receive this certificate, “said Secretary of Tourism and Entrepreneurship Petar Vujović.
The director of “Waterworks and Sewerage” Tivat, Alen Krivokapić, and the director of the “Communal” company Tivat, Vlado Đukić, presented the members of the council with the pricing policy when it comes to utility fees, waste collection fees, water and sewage charges. Due to the harmonization of prices with the new regulations, in accordance with the Law on Utilities, these companies are required to adopt new price lists. The novelty is that the price of water should be increased for the service of wastewater treatment plants, but the position of the local government is that the Municipality will subsidize citizens in the coming period, covering the cost of operating the plant from the municipal budget, which will be defined later.
Talking to businessmen about administrative and communal taxes and fees, the representatives of the Secretariat for Finance and Local Public Revenues pointed out the fact that the municipal budget suffered a significant blow, due to the epidemiological situation and adopted sets of measures to support the economy and citizens. They invited those present to cooperate in order to plan the funds for the next year as well and realistically as possible. The draft Budget for 2021 amounts to € 16,945,200.00
The representative of the Association of Caterers Tivat, Tonći Francesković, pointed out that the catering and hotel industry is in a very difficult situation. “According to the information we have on the basis of numerous meetings we had as an Association, it is clear that the next season is already lost, and I see a personal solution in lending and injecting credit funds into catering businesses, in order to survive this period,” said Franceskovic.
The representative of the company “Adriatic Marinas” doo, Predrag Leković, spoke about the business challenges caused by the pronounced tourist seasonality, and that specifically Porto Montenegro, tried to overcome this by creating an innovation center “Arsenal Business Club”. According to Leković, there are currently 16 companies operating in this area, they operate from Porto Montenegro, their partners come and this constant movement of people and dynamism, bring benefits.
The vice president of the municipality of Tivat, Goran Bozovic, said that the idea of opening a “business incubator” in Tivat would be seriously considered, which would be an incentive and support for individuals who decide to start their own business, and help in the initial stages of small and medium enterprise development. He called for consideration of a location for such a business center, which could be realized through international projects without large investments by the Municipality, and perhaps in cooperation with the municipalities with which Tivat borders.
The President of the Municipality of Tivat shared with those present the intention of regional integration of the cities of Boka, but also the idea of establishing a national kitchen in Tivat, which would provide direct support to citizens in social need.
