"The position of the Union of Municipalities regarding the Draft Law on Ports is clear: the management of ports of local significance must fall within the competence of municipalities," she emphasized Sanja Živković, stated the Secretary of the Committee for Communal Affairs and the Environment of the Union of Municipalities, at a round table organized on the occasion of the Draft Law on Ports.
Živković recalled that, at the end of 2024, six coastal municipalities jointly launched an initiative to amend the Law on Maritime Domain, the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction, and the Law on Ports, with the aim of implementing decentralisation and transferring management responsibilities to local self-government units. Such a solution is not a novelty—it is already common practice in Croatia, Albania, and Italy, where municipalities play a key role in the day-to-day management of coastal areas and ports, thereby ensuring more responsible, sustainable, and equitable management of resources.
It was proposed that the responsibilities for managing ports be entrusted to municipal authorities, and that the revenues generated from their use be allocated to the budgets of the local self-government units within whose territories the ports are located. In this way, the funds would be returned to the communities where they were generated, and investments would be directed towards what citizens and businesses need most—the development of infrastructure, the preservation of local areas, and the improvement of quality of life.
Živković also emphasized that the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, which Montenegro has ratified, clearly stipulate that public responsibilities should be exercised by the authorities closest to citizens, with due regard to the scope and nature of those responsibilities, as well as to the requirements of efficiency and economy. The Constitution of Montenegro further guarantees the right to local self-government, implying that citizens and their elected representatives have the right and the capacity, within the framework of the law, to regulate and manage matters of direct and common interest.
Based on these principles, as well as on the Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the Government of Montenegro and all local self-government units in December 2024, the Union of Municipalities believes that the time has come to initiate a process of genuine decentralisation in the management of the maritime coast and ports. We also recall that, until 1992, these areas were managed by municipalities, while the subsequent centralisation of responsibilities led to the establishment of the public enterprise "Morsko dobro", which has to this day not been aligned with the legal obligations requiring its reorganisation into a commercial company. This, among other things, raises questions regarding the legal validity of numerous decisions and represents a missed opportunity to ensure that revenues generated through the use of the maritime coast and ports are returned to local communities in a fair and equitable manner.
In the past three years alone, only one quarter of the revenues generated from the management of the maritime coast has been reinvested in infrastructure projects in the municipalities of the southern region, even though the majority of those revenues are generated there. Such a practice demonstrates that the current model does not contribute to balanced development; rather, it deepens disparities among municipalities and reduces the ability of local communities to plan and manage their territories in accordance with the needs of citizens and businesses.
The Union of Municipalities of Montenegro believes that the Parliament and the Government of Montenegro will take these arguments into consideration and recognize that decentralisation is not a threat, but rather an opportunity to build a stronger and more accountable state, in which municipalities and the state work together for the benefit of citizens and the fair development of the entire coastal region.
Foto credits: Jedro.bar
