More than 100 representatives of Montenegro’s business community gathered in Podgorica to take stock of the results of the turn around management (TAM) and business advisory services (BAS) support to Montenegrin small and medium enterprises.

Programme was initiated in Montenegro in 2002 and carried out in three cycles lasting two years each. It is managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction and implemented by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

To date, EU funding worth €4 million has been used to mobilise more than 40 international managers and specialists and 80 local consultants. The experts, in turn, assisted 34 medium sized and around 200 small companies to streamline their organisation and improve their management and marketing practice. Amongst the beneficiaries are Montenegrin household names such as meat processor Martex, soft drinks maker Pirella and Airports of Montenegro.

Background

The North of Montenegro is receiving increasing attention from the donor community and from government in order to narrow the considerable gap in living standards between this part of Montenegro and other regions. 80% of Montenegro’s poor are domiciled in the northern municipalities. Sectors offering potential for growth include agriculture, agro-industry, wood processing, mining, energy and tourism. Current TAM/BAS operations are involved in all these sectors except for mining and energy, whose development EAR supports through separate EU funded programmes.