On Christmas Eve 2018 Montenegro’s finance minister Darko Radunovic received a PBG2 document from the World Bank. The document defined the terms and obligations that the country must comply with before getting favourable loans under World Bank guarantees. Montenegro is in dire need of those loans as they help the public finances and service the country’s […]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates show that some 20 million people are infected each year by hepatitis B, C and HIV due to improper medical waste handling. Montenegro keeps no such records. However, more than a thousand tonnes of such waste is beyond any supervision. “When my mother died of cancer I didn’t know […]

Even though more than 70m € have been invested in the wastewater treatment  the applied technology is still inadequate and without sludge disposal plans. The local authorities find it easier to ship the sludge off to Albania at the expense of tax payers’ money which goes into hundreds of thousands of Euros. The city councils […]

We know it all too well. The role of media in creating and disseminating lies and propaganda as tools for promoting and perpetuating conflict during the 1990s Yugoslav wars of secession is so well documented, that examples of it made it to the textbooks, documentary films, and courts in the Hague. According to Marija Šajkaš, […]

On Judiciary and Media Freedom in Montenegro Brussels, 19.11.18 Dear Commissioner Hahn, In the light of the 16th EU-Montenegro SAPC, which took place in Strasbourg from 14 - 15 November, I as member of the European Parliamentary Delegation to Montenegro, hereby express my concerns regarding media freedom in Montenegro. As Commissioner for regional policy and […]

Things have got worse since the government imposed moratorium on gravel extraction and the so called strict control of riverbeds. Sharks in the construction business make millions in dredging the Moraca River. On the other hand, the treasury of Podgorica City Council benefited fewer then four Euros from the concession fees in 2016.    The […]

Dear Commissioner Hahn, Hereby we write to you upon our brief encounter with the RSF Balkans bureau chief at the EU-Western Balkans Media Days 2018 in Skopje last month. We continue to be gravely concerned with the media situation in Montenegro and the sheer impunity for attacks on journalists, whether by words or physical force. […]

It seems that nothing can deter the government to milk extra millions of Euros out of its tax payers through bloated electricity bills. The proposed small hydro plants are minuscule in tackling the country's current power deficit while looming environmental damage is a way too costly.  The Balkan countries have been known for long time […]

The so called Tumour of the Mediterranean- a noxious seaweed, keeps spreading along the coast of Montenegro, venomous fish end up in fishing nets, and by a stroke of luck, they still haven't made it to the dining table, giant crayfish pop up, huge bluefish and dangerous mako sharks are on the horizon... while on […]

Unlike other regional and European countries Montenegro has no legal protection of venomous snake species which makes them exposed to trade and smuggling. Biologists warn of looming hemorrhagic fever due to excessive nose-horned viper hunting Each year more than 200 nose-horned vipers are exported from Montenegro to Serbia thus putting at risk this reptile species […]

“As soon as migrants give their passport for money, they face the highest risk of becoming victims of trafficking in human beings. There are examples on the route of illegal migrants from Greece to Macedonia and Macedonia to Serbia, but we have not had such cases so far in Montenegro”, said Vojislav Dragović, Head of […]

Inspectors turn a blind eye to a number of cases of labour exploitation where women don’t get paid, or are forced to do extra jobs or are blackmailed Although international organizations warn about the phenomenon of forced labour and labour exploitation, only two verdicts have been reached, and that was a decade ago. In the […]

Despite his excellent English, Montenegrin Businessman Dragan Buric has been having trouble explaining to his American partners and friends why – until recently – he had been unable to start a project in which he invested 13 million euros in Montenegro. It was because of – electricity. The project, to build stables and dairies was […]

Young Roma activist Fana Delija, her family and colleagues face serious problems in their community while they are fighting for human and child rights. I was physically attacked three times. “My colleague was stoned in her own house. My brother was injured in the head. But these are the risks we have counted on”, Fana […]

On Tuesday 21 February 2018, Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIN-CG) organized a conference Investigative Journalism and Code of Ethics - Obstacles, Challenges and How to Reach Professional Standards, as a part of the EU funded project Investigate for ME and EU, implemented in cooperation with Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN). The goal of the project is to strengthen […]

Igor was an excellent student of medicine and specialized in obstetrics. Although his skills seemed in demand in his hometown in the north of Montenegro, he could not get a full-time job at the local hospital.

A fifteen year old girl, originally from Kosovo, has already been “married” three times, and she has now been expecting with her last arranged husband. However, courts dropped the charges against her father, marriage contractor, and her second husband, for contracting a child's forced marriage, on the grounds of the lack of evidence. The girl […]

In a three-day period in 2008, during which one tender for the construction of military apartments was cancelled and another launched, the Montenegrin Ministry of Defence lost 1,500 square metres of housing space in the exclusive neighbourhood of Tolosi in Podgorica. It is estimated that the value of the ‘lost’ space was at least 1.6 […]

Ulcinj’s former mayor and Democratic Party leader, Fatmir Djeka, could once again become mayor of the troubled seaside town if he wins the local elections in Montenegro in January – despite a slew of unanswered questions about the town’s chaotic finances hanging over his head. Smoking one cigarette after another at the café Piano in […]

If Russia really is investing heavily in an army of bots, hackers and fake news sites to affect the outcome of elections everywhere from the US to Germany, it doesn’t need to waste any money doing the same in Montenegro, where Moscow’s agenda is well-represented by local media. After the country joined NATO in June, […]

Municipality of Kolašin was damaged for enormous sums of money due to the illegal sale of municipal land throughout the course of last decade and a half, for which none was held accountable. There have been several formulas for the enrichment of privileged at the expense of Kolašin, but this one with land is rather […]

The money is being poured into the hands of privileged ones from Montenegrin municipalities, and not in a legal manner. Though the spotlight is on Budva and Jelići, there are similar from which the Centre for Investigative Journalism of Montenegro (CIJ-MNE) starts a serial on corruption at the local level. Mileta Bulatović, former president of […]