The Union of Municipalities of Montenegro has submitted an urgent request to the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Northern Development, calling for the immediate adoption of the Decree on the Detailed Elements and Methodology for Determining Utility Service Prices, which the Ministry had already prepared at the beginning of the year. The urgency of the matter is underscored by the growing number of initiatives challenging the legality of local utility price lists. The most recent case concerns the price list of the Tivat Public Utility Company, where, on 30 May 2025, the Constitutional Court suspended the proceedings for 90 days, allowing time for the adoption of a new decree and a revised price list. Failing that, the proceedings will resume, and the existing price list may be declared unconstitutional.
“Unless urgent action is taken, public utility companies, such as the one in Tivat, will no longer be able to lawfully charge for their services, jeopardizing their operations. Moreover, in line with the growing practice of draining municipal budgets through litigation, certain lawyers have already announced claims for damages arising from the application of the contested price list. This could result in substantial financial costs to the detriment of the municipality,” the Union of Municipalities stated.
The Union of Municipalities calls on the Ministry to take all necessary measures to ensure that the Decree is adopted without further delay, in accordance with the statutory deadline, in order to protect the interests of local governments and ensure the stable provision of utility services to citizens.
The urgent request follows the decision of the Constitutional Court of Montenegro, which, as early as October 2022, repealed paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 6 of the existing Decree, leaving numerous local utility service price lists without a valid legal basis.
