The week on Montenegro Stock Exchange was marked by an increase in indices and a decline in trade volume, with the boycott of major retail chains and the announcement of a new development in the coming week drawing the most attention.
The index of the top ten companies on the Montenegro Stock Exchange, MNSE10, rose by 5.2% to 1,204.27 points, while the MONEX index increased by 3% to 17,892.42 points.
However, the trade volume was only 35,250 EUR, nearly half of last week’s value.
This week, the shares of Port of Adria rose by 3.7%, reaching 36.5 cents, while shares of the Montenegrin power system (CGES) and Elektroprivreda decreased—by 4.4% to 1.31 EUR and slightly by 5.52 EUR, respectively. Shares of the Institute “Simo Milošević” and Jugopetrol remained unchanged at 58 EUR and 15 EUR.
Shares of Hipotekarna Banka, Crnogorski Telekom, and Marine Bar were traded, priced at 8.5 EUR, 2.44 EUR, and 3.5 EUR, respectively. Zetatrans ended the week at 1.08 EUR, while IGM Račice Tivat stood at 2 EUR.
The Tax Administration announced Wednesday that the five largest retail chains saw a 30.23% drop in turnover on Saturday due to the boycott compared to February 1 when the boycott was not in place. On that Saturday, the retail turnover was 2.96 million EUR, while on February 1 it had been 4.24 million EUR.
The organizer of the boycott, the Alternative Montenegro movement, called on citizens via a social media survey to boycott the Voli chain starting Monday if the retailer does not reduce its product prices.
They explained that the move was a response to citizens’ dissatisfaction with the high prices of basic goods and the inadequate response of retail chains to the economic situation in the country.
The Alternative Montenegro representatives stated that the survey results clearly showed that many citizens believe Voli supermarket prices are unjustifiably high compared to average wages and living standards.
They also argued that retail margins in Montenegro are much higher than large retailers claim and promised to soon present substantial documentation on the matter.
The goal of the boycott, they emphasized, is not to reduce profits but to make the citizens’ voices heard.
Minister of Economic Development, Nik Gjeloshaj, stated Friday at a panel at the Faculty of Economics that he does not support the boycott and does not believe it will improve the situation of citizens or the economy.
“We need to buy and support domestic products. Montenegro does not need populism, clumsy political statements, or calls from Facebook groups. We need to focus on domestic production, provide support, and increase competitiveness,” Gjeloshaj remarked at the panel titled “Boycott of Retailers—Who Gains, and Who Loses?”
He emphasized that measures must be created to ensure that businesses do not close, leaving thousands without jobs.
“Montenegro is a small economy, and we all know how dependent we are on imports. We depend on all external factors around us and worldwide. The key factor for inflation growth was the war in Ukraine. We have created measures to try to stop this inflation and support domestic production,” Gjeloshaj added.
This week also saw the signing of a contract for the design of the Andrijevica-Berane-Boljare highway section between the company Monteput and the consortium CDS Project-Via Project-Geotin MNE.
Monteput explained that the highway section in the project will be 50 kilometers long, with the value of the contracted services amounting to 3.65 million EUR, excluding VAT. The deadline for completing the design project is 14 months from the signing of the contract.
A significant event this week was the news that former Telekom officials Oleg Obradović and Miodrag Ivanović were acquitted in a retrial of charges brought by the Special Prosecutor’s Office. They were accused of abusing their official position, allegedly causing a loss of 2.3 million EUR to the company in favor of RawleighTrading (Roli) from London.
According to the court ruling, it was not proven during the trial that Obradović and Ivanović intentionally misused their positions to harm Telekom financially, as stated in the indictment.
On Monday, the Hotel Igalo, owned by the former Hotel and Tourism Company Boka, was sold at a public auction for 11.23 million EUR. The buyer was the company Herc Gradnja from Herceg Novi. The funds from the sale will be used to settle claims of the Acović and Šabović families, who had land restituted to them, as well as to pay for workers’ contributions, taxes, and liabilities to the Municipality of Herceg Novi.
At the end of the workweek, Montenegro Airports announced that a flight route connecting Tivat and Barcelona is expected to launch on July 1. Executive Director of Montenegro Airports, Roko Tolić, stated that establishing this route is of great importance for the air connectivity of Montenegro and positioning the country as a rapidly growing tourist destination. He added that the route resulted from synchronized efforts and the joint collaboration of all involved parties.
