Montenegro is relatively rich in minerals, such as bauxite, iron ore and copper, and is self-sufficient on coal (mainly lignite). It has good access to hydropower, but the hydropower supply is sometimes affected by severe drought. The country lacks its own oil resources.
The Serbian Orthodox Church, as well as various environmental-oriented NGOs, have protested, for cultural and environmental reasons, against several dam construction projects in the Moraca River in collaboration with Chinese and Turkish companies. Montenegro has also said it wants to be an ecological state.
COUNTRYAAH: Major exports by Montenegro with a full list of the top products exported by the country. Includes trade value in U.S. dollars and the percentage for each product category.
Many installations are still inefficient with recurrent power outages. The European Development Bank EBRD has invested in support for Montenegro so that the country can build up modern, environmentally friendly facilities and even export electricity. A project is also underway to link the energy systems in Montenegro with those in Serbia and Italy.
The Montenegrin state owns a little more than half of the electricity monopoly (EPCG), which has long been heavily indebted. Electricity prices were therefore raised (but not as much as EPCG had wished) both in early 2012 and 2013, with widespread popular protests as a result. After small increases in profitability in 2013 and 2014, declines were noted for the company in both 2015 and 2016. Throughout the 2010s, ups and downs have replaced each other in terms of mining and energy production.
Abbreviationfinder: A popular acronym site in the world covering abbreviation for each country. For example, MW stands for Montenegro. Visit itypeusa for more information about Montenegro.
FACTS – ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
Energy use per person
1,538 kilograms of oil equivalent (2014)
Electricity consumption per person
4612 kilowatt hours, kWh (2014)
Carbon dioxide emissions in total
2 211 thousand tonnes (2014)
Carbon dioxide emissions per inhabitant
3.6 tonnes (2014)
The share of energy from renewable sources
43.0 percent (2015)
2017
September
Gang crime concerns
September 16th
Prime Minister Duško Marković holds a special meeting on the security situation in the country with representatives of the police and security services. In the coastal town of Kotor, a UNESCO World Heritage site and well-frequented by tourists, a former soccer player is shortly shot to death in what is believed to be a deal about drug-related crime. A week earlier, two men were killed in the middle of the day in the capital Podgorica by criminals from Kotor – one just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. In the past year, a number of murders and bombings have occurred, but few have been arrested. The worst is the situation in Kotor, where 30 gang-related murders have taken place since the end of 2013, most in drug-related settlements between mainly Skaljari and Kavač clans (named after places in Kotor).
August
New rules of procedure in Parliament
August 2
Parliament votes new rules of procedure for Members since disagreement between the ruling parties and the opposition several times during the spring and summer degenerated into disputes, with swearing and obviousness as a result. A member of parliament who breaks the new rules can get rid of half his monthly salary. The opposition claims that the rules are politically conditional.
Pence visits Montenegro
August 2
US Vice President Mike Pence is received in Podgorica by Prime Minister Duško Marković. Pence is the highest ranking American who has visited Montenegro in modern times. His visit is part of an Eastern European tour, where Pence also visited Estonia and Georgia. It is seen as a support to Montenegro, NATO’s newest member country, and its neighbors as a counterbalance to what many believe is an increased Russian influence in the region.
July
Trial against suspected coup makers
July 19
The trial against 14 people, accused of trying to conduct a coup d’état in connection with the parliamentary elections (see October 2016), begins but is updated the following day after requesting more time from the defense lawyers. Among the accused are opposition politicians Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević from the Democratic front as well as another Montenegrin, nine Serbian citizens and two Russians. Most of them have not been able to be arrested. The defendants are said to have had support from Russia, which the Russian government denies. The accused is believed to have primarily wanted to prevent Montenegro’s accession to NATO.
Severe forest fires
July 17
Prolonged drought and heat cause forest fires to erupt in several locations in the country and spread down the Adriatic coast. Worst affected are the areas around the cities of Herceg Novi near the border with Croatia (which also affected) and Tivat further south. The fires indicate major deficiencies in the emergency services in Montenegro, who have turned abroad for help.
June
Montenegro becomes NATO member
June 5
Montenegro formally becomes NATO’s 29th member state, and the third of the former Yugoslav sub-republics to join the defense alliance (after Slovenia and Croatia).
April
Trump is writing
April 11
President Donald Trump signs the protocol, which allows the United States to accept Montenegro as a NATO member. Now only approval from the Netherlands and Spain and Montenegro remains hoped to be admitted as full NATO member at the organization’s summit in Brussels at the end of May.
March
The United States Senate welcomes Montenegro
March 28
With 97 votes to 2, the US Senate says yes in a vote yes to Montenegro as a NATO member. President Donald Trump will now also sign the so-called instrument of ratification.
Try to stop NATO membership
March 3rd
Two Russian-friendly Montenegrin opposition leaders, Andrija Mandić and Milan Knežević, in a letter to President Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon, are trying to convince him that a Montenegrin NATO membership would not favor the United States and that an American yes would also impair US relations with Russia. The US Foreign Affairs Committee has said yes, but the decision must be approved by the US Senate; however, the vote there has so far been blocked by two senators. At the beginning of March, 25 of 28 NATO countries had agreed to Montenegro.
February
Woman protest against cuts
February 16th
About 2,500 women are protesting outside the government building in the capital Podgorica against the government’s planned cuts in the life-long state grant of mothers who have three or more children. The demonstration is violent, but some women are eventually admitted to speak with government officials.
January
Natochef announces support
January 26
At a meeting between Prime Minister Duško Marković and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Brussels, they both voiced concerns that the United States, since Donald Trump took office as president, wants to postpone or even disapprove of Montenegro’s NATO membership. The whole thing can be seen as a test of Trump’s relations with Russia, which does not want Montenegro to join NATO. So far, 22 out of 28 Natu countries have approved Montenegro and a clear sign from the US is expected to get the others to do so as well.
