At today's session, the Government passed the Decree on the amendment of the Decree on the conditions for obtaining titles and the levels of titles of officials of the Directorate for the Execution of Criminal Sanctions (UIKS).
The amendment regulated the salary increase of employees in the Administration by 20 percent, by legally harmonizing their coefficients with those of employees in the public sector.
"This solution was adopted so that officers of the Administration would not be discriminated against employees in healthcare, education and the Army, which will increase their motivation for better work performance and provide an incentive for employment in vacant positions, since in the prison system it is very it is difficult to provide human resources," the Government announced.
The Government adopted the Information on European Union (EU) support programs for Montenegro for the past year.
The Government said that in connection with the new financial perspective - IPA 2021-2027, on November 2 last year, the Framework Financial Partnership Agreement between the EU and Montenegro on the implementation models of the financial support of the Union to Montenegro within the Instrument for Pre-Accession Support came into force. (IPA).
Thus, as they stated, preconditions were created for contracting and spending EU funds that are available to Montenegro through the IPA III financial perspective.
"The financial agreement between the Government and the European Commission (EC) on the IPA annual action program for Montenegro for 2021, through which the EU allocated 32,4 million euros of non-reimbursable EU funds, was signed on December 15 last year," it says in announcement.
It is added that on December 5 last year, the EC adopted the Annual Action Program for Montenegro for the past year, for which over 37,7 million euros were allocated to support, among other things, public administration reform and integrated border management.
"In response to the energy crisis in the Western Balkans caused by the war in Ukraine, the EC decided to reallocate the funds planned for the IPA 2023 program to support its mitigation, thus supporting Montenegro with 30 million in direct budget support," the announcement states.
The Information states that during the last year, two calls for submission of projects within the Western Balkans Investment Framework were completed, at which an additional almost 42 million euros were approved for new infrastructure projects.
Today, the Government approved the Draft Law on Amendments to the Law on Copyright and Related Rights.
The proposed changes, as they explained, align the provisions of the Act with EU law in terms of defining the permitted use of certain works and other objects protected by copyright and related rights for the benefit of people who are blind, visually impaired or have other difficulties in using printed materials.
The Government said that the right of cable retransmission is precisely prescribed, the application of the collective exercise of rights on a voluntary basis is extended to cases of mandatory collective exercise of the right to cable retransmission of the subject of protection.
"The possibility of determining temporary measures is also being introduced against intermediaries whose services are used by a third party to infringe copyright or related rights," the announcement says.
The Government believes that the proposed solutions will enable, without acquiring the appropriate property rights and paying compensation, copyrighted works or objects of related rights to be created in an accessible format in which blind and partially sighted people will be able to use them in the same feasible and comfortable way as people which do not have these difficulties.
As announced, the Government adopted the Information on the agreement on the use of lobbying services for the needs of the Government from the company Bipartizan Solušn /Bipartizan Solution/ from Washington.
The Information states that Prime Minister Dritan Abazović, recognizing the need to further strengthen relations between Montenegro and the United States of America (USA), concluded an Agreement on representing the interests of the Government and its ministries in the USA with the lobbying company Bipartizan from Washington.
"Lobbying services refer to the representation of the interests of Montenegro and its position in relation to numerous critical global topics, such as: relations with the USA, the EU and NATO, and the fight against corruption and organized crime, international investments and development, climate change and sustainable development," the announcement states.
The Government said that the company Bipartizan Solušn is obliged to regularly report all activities related to the Agreement to the US Ministry of Justice and to strictly comply with the applicable laws and regulations of the US regarding lobbying activities.
"In the discussion, it was emphasized that this Agreement, under the most modest conditions, will significantly raise the visibility and improve the representation of the national interests of our country in the international framework," said the Government.
The Government gave its consent to the Proposal for a Collective Agreement on Amendments to the Collective Agreement for the University of Montenegro (UCG) with the Proposal for a Collective Agreement.
The announcement states that the collective agreement applies to UCG employees who are not covered by the amendments to the Law on Wages in the Public Sector from December 31, 2021, and they concern the increase of the coefficient for the positions of full professor, associate professor and assistant professor at the university.
In the text of the amendments to the Collective Agreement, it is foreseen that the coefficients of the complexity of employees' jobs will be increased from February 1 this year by 20 percent, from January 1 next year by 10 percent, and from January 1, 2025, by an additional 10 percent.
It was added that, in case of changed macroeconomic parameters during this and the next year, the coefficients of complexity can be additionally considered.
Today, the government made a decision extending the validity of the existing epidemiological measures until February 10.
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