The Commission for Suppression of the Gray Economy, strengthened with new capacity and common interest, is embarking on a more intensive and better suppression of the gray market, it was announced at today's session of that body.
As announced by the Government, at the first session of the Commission held in an expanded composition, it was unanimously concluded that the competent authorities should immediately increase the intensity and quality of the fight against all forms of the gray economy, now formally strengthened by the joint position of representatives of the executive power, competent inspection bodies, the business community and trade unions .
It was pointed out that the Commission, in its new composition covering the entire range of relevant social entities, is sending a strong signal of a common attitude, interest and synergy in overcoming the challenges of the gray economy and doing so in partnership, in the interest of employees, the business community and additional income for health and education funds, thus in the interest of all citizens of Montenegro.
"The commission in this composition should be an alarm, a wake-up call for certain institutions that are not working properly, but also for individuals. We will insist on rewarding those who work efficiently and effectively and sanctioning those who fail to meet the tasks" - said the President of the Commission and Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System, Milutin Simović.
At the session, the reports of the competent authorities on the results of the fight against the gray economy in the first quarter of this year, as well as reports on the overall trends in the labor market and the gray economy in tourism, were presented.
In this regard, the commission stated that the reports showed that the gray labor market is active throughout the year and that the focus of the competent authorities cannot only be on the tourist season.
In particular, it was pointed out that the structure of employees in the economy is such that 53,5 percent of business entities have one employee each, while in the field of tourism and hospitality, there are 2.487 entities or 42,5 percent of those engaged in this activity.
"Formally, there are 147 hotels with one employee each," it was announced at the session.
In this context, it was concluded that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are one of the key generators of the gray economy in Montenegro, and that these economic entities will be subject to rigorous controls by the competent authorities in the near future.
"The inspections must urgently knock on their door," said Simović, adding that they have a choice - to report the employees before the inspections arrive.
The announcement states that the representatives of the business community and trade unions expressed their satisfaction with the fact that they are involved in the fight against the gray economy, stressing that they fully share the interest of its suppression.
At the session, the need to strengthen the capacity of the competent inspection services and non-selectivity in their approach, that is, consistent compliance with the law, which should demonstrate the principled policy of the state, was particularly emphasized.
The need to modernize certain solutions was also pointed out, and in this regard, the issuance of a new excise stamp was announced, which will contain the highest level of protection.
The commission, constituted last year by representatives of the Ministry of Finance, police administration, customs, tax and inspection services, was supplemented last week by representatives of the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism and the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare - Directorate for Labor Market and Employment.
That body was supplemented by representatives of the Chamber of Commerce, the Union of Employers, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Council of Foreign Investors, the Confederation of Trade Unions of Montenegro and the Union of Free Trade Unions.
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