The second session of the newly established Council for the Improvement of Business Environment in the Capital City was held in the "Ramada" Hotel today. The session was chaired by the Mayor, Mr. Ivan Vukovic, PhD, and on behalf of the Capital City, City Manager, Mr. Marjan Juncaj, presented the development and investment potentials of Podgorica, while Acting Secretary of the Secretariat for Finance, Ms. Snezana Popovic, acquainted members of the Council with the Decision on Mitigation of Consequences of the Coronavirus disease, and the Decision on Amendments to Decision on the Budget of the Capital City for the current year.

The Mayor, Ivan Vukovic, highlighted that members of the Council for the Improvement of Business Environment in the Capital City, are people who have been changing the image of Podgorica and Montenegro for years and decades, and who have made Podgorica look like a modern European city.

Today, we are taking a huge step forward in overall development of the capital city. Bearing in mind the circumstances, every crisis is a new opportunity, and offers answers to questions, as well as a chance in order to improve our work. The establishment of this Council is one of those answers. I would like to ensure you that the Capital City will always be your reliable partner. We are a financially stable system, we are people who plan the development of Podgorica way ahead, and we are ready to help at any time those on whom the development of our city depend, Mayor emphasised.

The business advice will be an incentive for further development of the capital city, as well as an example of successful cooperation between the Capital City and business community, Vukovic concluded.

The City Manager, Mr. Marjan Juncaj, presented development and investment potentials of Podgorica. He emphasised that the Capital City is a stable financial system which would be creating prerequisites for the business development in Podgorica in the forthcoming period.

The investment activities implemented by the Capital City in cooperation with the Goverment and partners amount to over €200 mil., and they predominantly relate to capital infrastructure, projects that guarantee further development of Podgorica, and the improvement of business environment and economic activities, Juncaj pointed out.

While presenting business potentials of Podgorica, he reminded members of the Business Council that the Capital City had formed ten business zones, and presented their advantages and incentives for investors.

The Decision on long-term lease of the agricultural land owned by the Capital City on the principle of leasing on a 30-year basis at a price of one percent of the market value, also represents a serious development opportunity for business people who plan to engage in agricultural acitivity in long term, Juncaj said.

He highlighted that the smart-city concept, and the application of smart solutions, along with modernization of urban transport through digitalization of the public transport system, construction of storey garages, production of bottled water, and projects related to the use of renewable energy, as well as huge tourist potentials of Podgorica, would be great chance for all potential investors and parners of the Capital City.

Acting Secretary of the Secretariat for Finance, Ms. Snezana Popovic, said that the Capital City had issued Decision on the set of measures for mitigation of coronavirus consequences, and that this will have an adverse impact on the budget (4,38 percent reduction). She reminded that, despite of this, the Capital City has stable source of revenues, and that credit obligations are orderly met.

Measures are aimed at reducing costs of the current budget, creating conditions for the resumption of capital projects, through specific reliefs for contractors, support for economic entities in terms of providing deferred payment of fiscal obligations for surtaxes, reduction of some taxes, road fees, exemption from paying rent of business premises, fees and public utility services, with the aim of mitigating the consequences. The measures are one of the reasons for proposing amendments to the budget, moreover, the reason is the transferred funds from 2019 to this year, as a result of good management of the Capital City during the last year, which were necessary to be allocated. The rebalance will reduce the budget by 4,38 percent, while the largest revenues of the Capital City are its own resources, Popovic concluded.

At today's session, new members were elected - Mr. Milan Dragic, Executive Director of Montenegro Business Aliance, and Mr. Mladen Brnovic, Technical Director of Saniteco group, ltd.