The recent plan to build a bottled water factory in Danilovgrad, which would employ 25 people, has highlighted the longstanding issue of unexploited high-quality water sources across northern Montenegro, from Gusinje in the northeast to Pljevlja in the northwest.
Currently, bottled water plants exist only in Kolašin and Šavnik, while past attempts in Andrijevica, Gusinje, and Rožaje have failed for unclear reasons. Existing factories can produce 350 million liters annually, enough for domestic demand, yet over 60% of bottled water consumed in Montenegro is imported—around 22 million liters per year.
Despite abundant natural sources, including Ali-Paša’s spring in Gusinje and dozens of other mountain springs in Prokletije, these waters are largely unused for commercial purposes. In Berane, Andrijevica, and Petnjica alone, over 3,000 registered potable water springs exist, but none have been industrially developed outside municipal supply systems.
A vital historical document, the Cadastre of Water Springs, mapping and assessing northern Montenegro’s springs for commercial use, has been lost, further complicating development. Experts note that only industrializing these sources could create a new economic sector, generate employment, and potentially position northern Montenegro as a major bottled water producer and exporter, leveraging some of the world’s highest-quality water.
Local stakeholders also cite the influence of import-focused interests as a barrier to private investment in water bottling, despite sufficient natural resources.
