Economy & Tourism Growth

“Are you seeking for a totally undiscovered environment for your next investment? We might have the next big thing for you!” 

Located on the Mediterranean, this jewel place will amaze you with its accessibility, charm, friendliness and also great food and wine. Living in Montenegro is easy! It gives you all you need – ideal climate, sea vibes, north perfection, easy travels around and a movie lifestyle. You can wear your fancy hat in the Porto Montenegro marina for your Mediterranean posh-style breakfast and, at the same day, you can reach the breathtaking north and hike in one of the oldest virgin forests in Europe, located inside the national park Biogradska Gora. Montenegro follows the EU integration process to be able to join the Union by 2025. Besides this fact, Montenegro is already a member of numerous global associations such as The Council of Europe, CEFTA, UN, NATO, The World Trade Organisation etc.

Montenegro & Foreign Investments

Even if Montenegro has many on-going investments, this beautiful country is not yet popular as the neighbours – Croatia. It is still one of the best-kept secrets in Europe and certainly on the Mediterranean. Being a part of ex-Yugoslavia up to the recent past, this small Balkans country regained its independence in the new history – on the referendum in 2006. Since then, it has been a haven for many investments from all around the world.

Some of the biggest investments are running on the coast as Montenegro rapidly grows as a yachting destination. Marina Porto Montenegro is the best proof of this, as a new hotspot on the Mediterranean and the biggest port for mega-yachts in the blue waters of the Adriatic. Following this marina, there are more amazing investments such as Lustica Bay, with an outstanding idea of building a new town in the marvellous Bay of Kotor. Portonovi follows a similar style of Porto Montenegro and it will be the first home to the One & Only Resort in Europe.

There are many reasons to invest in Montenegro, equally north and south. Why it’s so attractive? We’ll try to bring you the best reasons for investing in Montenegro:

Safety and Investors’ Opportunities 

As the new member of the NATO, Montenegro is officially under the protection of this powerful association. Besides this, it’s a very safe place with not that much turbulence in the recent past, unlike its region that went through a war period. The whole region of the Balkans, or South East Europe, is very safe nowadays, but Montenegro is the only one showing consistency and maturity and that’s why is a favourite place for regional investments too. Its potentials are coming visible worldwide and it’s very important to know that this country has a steady growth in the field of economy. One of the reasons is foreign investments that are blooming in this safe coastal area, rich in nature and with the amazing history and culture.

Good to know

Montenegro recently joined the list of the countries seeking to attract foreign direct investments through citizenship by investing program. This will take place from October 2018 and will be open to 2000 applicants from non-EU countries. The investment requirements are 100 000 € in the form of the Government Fund Donation and 250 000 € investment in the approved real estate in an undeveloped region (north of the country) or 450 000 € investment in the approved real estate in a developed region (south of Montenegro). At the starting investment of 350 000 €, this program will be amongst the most competitive ones in Europe. The fact that it takes only 3 weeks to a permanent residence status makes this program even more attractive. Good to know is that the Montenegrin passport is on the 37th position in the world, allowing visa-free travels to 115 countries and expanding. 

Geo-Strategic Position and Connectivity

Montenegro belongs to the middle Mediterranean region and it’s located in Southeast Europe, on the central part of the Balkan Peninsula and southern coast of the Adriatic Sea. The extremely well-set geolocation of Montenegro is not only about its coastal part.  The north of the country is very well connected to Middle Europe by roads and railways. Two airports, in the strategic locations, are the best connection to the rest of the world and Croatian Airport Cilipi, with numerous international flights, is 1-hour drive from the Montenegrin border. The naval routes are really covering the business development, opening the opportunity for investments and for fast tourism growth.

Good to know

Railways are not super-modern but with the special charm certainly, where you will be blown away by the traditional, conservative style, dating from communist Yugoslavia.

Roads: The newest investments in connection and traffic improvements are ongoing as the Chinese Corporation CRBC is currently building a highway Bar - Boljari. This highway will connect Montenegro to Serbia. Serbia is also planning to build a new segment of the highway in their country that will connect to the Montenegrin one in the border in between two countries. This will connect Montenegro to many other European lands. Roads around Montenegro, in between the cities, are constantly being improved, widened and secured and this is a part where the country of Montenegro invests a lot. All this being said, you can see that this small Adriatic country has very good traffic connections, both inside the country and with the rest of the world.

By air: Montenegro has the national aircraft company called Montenegro Airlines and it covers a dozen regular all-year-round flights from Podgorica and Tivat. During the tourist season, the number of flights increases dramatically. Besides the national company, there are many others who entered this market, amongst which: Thomas Cook, TUI, Austrian Adria Airways, Air Serbia, Turkish Airlines, Aero Flot, NordStar, Holidays Czech Airlines, KVM, Globus Airlines etc. Some of these have charter flights available only in the summer half of the year. Recently, Montenegro allowed low-cost companies to enter the market, so now we have flights available with Ryan Air, EasyJet and WizzAir.

Good to know

Direct flights from/to Montenegrin Airports document

By Sea: Sea traffic is organised through several ports and marinas. The biggest and the most important port in Montenegro is in Bar, located on the south coast between cities of Budva and Ulcinj. This is an international cargo and passengers port that covers cruising traffic from recent years, too. The most famous cruising port in Montenegro, though, is the city of Kotor. Over 500 cruise ships visit it annually and are producing a daily flow of around 4000 people. Cruising visitors are enjoying the endless beauty of this pristine city and its famous cuisine. Other marinas, rather than ports, that are worth mentioning are Budva (Dukley Marina), Tivat (Porto Montenegro), Herceg Novi (Skver) and Zelenika, especially attractive for yacht and boat owners with very competitive berth prices. Portonovi and Lustica Bay are 2 new marinas for luxury yachts and boats that are being currently constructed and are both foreign investments. Lustica Bay opened the first part of the marina in summer 2018.

Financial Services and Currency

The official currency of Montenegro is the euro since 2002. This helps a lot in the field of foreign investments, as it’s one of the most important and best-positioned currencies in the world. Business banks are following the international standards and you can get the same quality of financial services as elsewhere in the developed countries.