A slight increase in stock indexes and a significant surge in trading volume marked the week on the Montenegro Stock Exchange, during which the proposal for this year’s national budget was once again not adopted, despite being on the Parliament’s agenda.
The MNSE10, which tracks the top ten companies listed on the Montenegro Stock Exchange, rose by 0.2% to 1,092.54 points, while MONEX increased by 0.8% to 16,830.5 points.
The trading volume reached 396,300 EUR, marking a 5.4-fold increase compared to the previous week. The largest share of this volume came from the sale of shares of the “Simo Milošević” Institute, with 1.5% of its shares sold for 333,970 EUR.
A total of approximately 5,760 shares were traded in ten transactions, with a price of 58 EUR per share. According to previous media reports, these shares were owned by minority shareholders and purchased by the Hotel-Tourism Company (HTP) Vile Oliva, which is owned by Žarko Rakčević.
Prior to this transaction, the state held 56.47% of the shares of the Institute, Vila Oliva held 27.4%, and other minority shareholders owned 16%.
This week, stocks of Plantaže and Crnogorski Telekom experienced losses, with Plantaže shares dropping 2.3% to 17.3 cents and Crnogorski Telekom falling slightly to 2.23 EUR. Shares of the Crnogorski Elektroprenosni Sistem remained unchanged at 1.4 EUR.
Stocks of other companies such as Veleprodaja, Sveti Stefan Hotels, and Ulcinjska Rivijera were also traded. On Friday, the shares of these companies were priced at 25 EUR, 5.5 EUR, and 5 EUR, respectively. Stocks of Poslovno Logističkog Centra Morača ended the week at 5 EUR, Zetatrans at 1.05 EUR, HTP Mimoza at 2 EUR, and Port of Adria at 0.25 EUR.
The week was also marked by the suspension of a parliamentary session, where the adoption of the state budget proposal was on the agenda. Opposition members disrupted the session by gathering in front of the Speaker’s table, preventing any discussion from taking place. As a result, the session was adjourned by the Speaker, Andrija Mandić.
In December, opposition MPs repeatedly blocked Parliament’s work, demanding the withdrawal of a decision regarding the dismissal of Constitutional Court judge Dragana Đuranović.
The government accused the opposition of obstructing the adoption of the budget, while opposition parties argued that it was a matter of protecting the Constitution, claiming that a constitutional coup had occurred in Montenegro.
Government officials warned about the potential consequences of not passing the budget and continuing with temporary financing. In response, opposition representatives reminded that the country operated under temporary financing in 2021, and that the claims about threats to income were unfounded.
On Thursday, the Ministry of Finance announced that Montenegro had achieved significant budget savings of 11.94 million EUR due to a hedging arrangement on a dollar-denominated loan from the Chinese Exim Bank for the construction of the Bar-Boljare highway.
“This arrangement, implemented in January last year, further proves the country’s ability to apply modern financial tools to optimize public debt and reduce fiscal risks,” the Ministry stated.
Last week, the Ministry also paid the eighth installment of the loan to the Chinese Exim Bank, realizing savings of 5.22 million EUR. Instead of paying the amount of 38.6 million EUR at the Central Bank’s exchange rate, the payment was reduced to 33.38 million EUR thanks to the hedging arrangement.
Additionally, Roko Tolić, Executive Director of Montenegro Airports (ACG), announced that they have received firm offers from low-cost airlines for the next year, with negotiations still ongoing.
“We are confident that we have solid offers, which are quite challenging for us, as certain low-cost airlines want to base their planes at our airports. From a national interest standpoint, we would prefer not to duplicate routes covered by the national airline, but we would certainly offer such companies the opportunity to serve destinations that citizens travel to, such as Tirana,” Tolić said.
