CERCLE DIPLOMATIQUE - issue 01/2017

LE MONDE MONTENEGRO
The wild beauty of the Adriatic Sea
Contrasting impressions:
While the capital Podgorica
(left) is growing into a small
metropolis, rural places like
Budva (right) capitalise on
their very special charms.
FACTS &
FIGURES
Only a one hour flight away, Montenegro presents itself as an up and coming
luxury tourism destination and one of the most developed EU membership
candidates.
Text: Rainer Himmelfreundpointner
Best of Montenegro.
Like Ulcinj City, a town on the
southern coast of Montenegro,
and the capital of Ulcinj
Municipality with a
population of some 10,000,
the coast of Montenegro
offers a lot of attractive travel
destinations.
PHOTOS: NTO, BRATISLAV TABAŠ, MARCIN KONSEK
Do you remember the late 80s and 90s in Vienna,
a period in which the city was as hot
as a vulcano, night was turned into day, and
anybody who would not want to appear as completely
nuts had to hang out in certain bars and restaurants
only. If you wanted to belong to the in-crowd,
you simply had to show up at the Alt Wien, the Neu
Wien, the Salzamt, the Salzgries or the Oswald&Kalb
– the very hotspots where media met politics, where
creative debated with finance, where ad went mad.
All these places have not been run by Austrians – no,
gastronoms from Montenegro had been throwing
the show. You would be welcomed by Ivo from Podgorica,
the capital, served by Bane from Budva, just
a 15 minutes drive away from the famous hotel island
Sveti Stefan, and sometimes you might as well
have been kicked out of the place in early morning
hours by Zladko from the beautiful Perast with
whom you better not messed up.
Those were the good old times, when Montenegro
ruled the Vienna city nights. If you want to experience
something similar today you can just book a
one hour flight by Austrian Airlines which is serving
the route Vienna—Podgorica every day. Having arrived
in Montenegro, you might just explore all the
atttractive dining and hangout opportunities the capital
has to offer – by the way: don‘t miss ”Kastan“, a
very special local dish – or set out right away to discover
a country which for good reasons is labeled
„the pearl of the Mediterranean“.
Montenegro is sort of the wild beauty south of the
Adriatic Sea and unique in many ways. Nowhere else
you can find so much natural wealth, beauty, mild
beaches, clear lakes, fast rivers, and gorgeous mountains
in such a compact area as in Montenegro. In the
morning you can wake up along the beautiful Adriatic
coast, have lunch on the banks of Skadar Lake,
and enjoy an evening walk in the Montenegrin
mountains.
So it comes at no surprise that Montenegro, which
has just about the size of the Schleswig-Holstein province
in Germany, is heavily trying to capitalise on
its natural beauties and tourism, which contributes
over 20 percent to its small GDP (see box right), is at
the core of the national development strategy of
Montenegro, that has gained independence from
Serbia in June 2006. ”It is hard to compete with the
big Mediterranean countries, since our coast has
only got 295 kilometers. So we decided for a masterplan
with a high-end infrastructure for luxury tourism“,
Ivan Milić, the Ambassador of Montenegro to
Austria, says in an interview with Cercle Diplomatique.
”In the beginning, for many people this sounded
like utopia. But in the meantime you can really
feel this luxury approach that can compete with
many resorts in the world“ (also see page 60).
Montenegro has counted some 1.8 million visitors
last year, and most of them have based their trips
in three high-end tourism development centers from
which they can take day-tours to explore other parts
of the country.
The first and foremost one certainly is Porto
Montenegro. Located in the beautiful UNESCO protected
Bay of Kotor. With the sea on the doorstep
and architecture that mirrors the nearby Venetian
towns of Kotor and Dubrovnik, it features a luxury
Regent hotel, waterfront homes, a nautical village
and a superyacht marina. And it is complemented by
signature restaurants, lively bars and a wide range of
sports, leisure and cultural activities. Milić: ”It is
maybe the most famous tourism landmark of our
country.“
Then there is a major touristic and real estate development
in Lustica Bay, also with luxury hotels,
marina and golf course and backed by the Swiss-
Egyptian Orascom Group. And finally, the finance
group Azmont Investments from Azerbaijan has
chosen Portonovi, which is near Herceg Novi, for
another huge tourism project worth some 650 million
Euro.
Many of the activities have attracted Austrian
companies as well to engage in Montenegro. With a
volume of some 370 million Euro, according to the
National Bank of Montenegro, Austria is amongst
the five biggest investors there. The Erste Bank and
the Steiermärkische Sparkasse as well as Uniqa insurance
have opened branches in Montenegro. And the
Austrian construction giant Strabag is partly involved
in the Porto Montenegro project. Additionally,
Austrian telecom companies are helping to build up
telecommunications infrastructures in the country.
And Voith, the expert in energy and power technology,
is upgrading three hydro power plants as a contribution
to Montenegro‘s plan to renew its energy infrastructure,
since the country is only using some 27
percent of its hydro potential.
Thanks to this range of development efforts, Montenegro
is expected to enjoy a GDP growth rate of
Montenegro
Official name:
Montenegro – Crna Gora
Capital and largest city:
Podgorica
Official language:
Montenegrin
Ethnic groups:
45% Montenegrins
28.7% Serbs
8.6% Bosniaks
4.9% Albanians
Religion: 59 % Christian,
23 % unaffiliated, 17 % folk
religion (e.g. santeria)
Government:
Parliamentary republic
• President: Filip
Vujanović
• Prime Minister: Duško
Marković
History:
• 625: Formation of Duklja
as a vassal of Byzantine
Empire
• 1042: Independence
gained at Battle of Bar
• 28 August 1910:
Kingdom proclaimed
• 1 December 1918:
Formation of the
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
• 29 November 1945:
Became a part of the SFR
Yugoslavia
• 27 April 1992: Dissolution
of SFR Yugoslavia
• 3 June 2006: Independence
regained after the
referendum
Area: 13,812 km 2
Population: 630,000
GDP: 4.25 billion $ (2016
estimate, nominal)
GDP per capita: 6,783 $
(2016 estimate, nominal)
Herceg Novi - a view of
the old castle tower with
the historic town wall
entrance.
Picturesque scenery at the
coast of Montenegro: The
bay of Boka Kotorska with
its famous tiny church island
(left) and a view on the town
of Perast from the west.
52 Cercle Diplomatique 1/2017