There are currently 415 such vessels registered in the Montenegrin yacht register maintained by the Maritime Safety and Port Management Authority (UPSUL).
Among the famous people from Montenegro, luxury vessels are owned by the owner of the trading chain "Voli" Dragan Bokan, business man Dejan Ban who is the executive director of the company "Maritime Traffic", Branislav Savić Gugi Budva businessman and convicted member of a criminal group Svetozar Marović.. The vessels of the "Ljetopis Automotive" company, which is owned by a businessman, are registered in the register Borislav Mijović, the company "Stadion" of which he is the owner Vojin Žugić, the company "Zetagradnja" owned by a businessman Blagota Baća Radović, company "Rudo Montenegro" of the businessman Aleksandar Miranović.
In addition to citizens and companies from Montenegro, vessels belonging to foreigners (citizens and companies) from almost all continents are entered in the register.
Namely, in addition to the neighbors from the ex-EU states, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Kosovo, citizens and companies from numerous European countries are registered in the Montenegrin registry: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Modavia, Georgia, Romania, Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Netherlands, Switzerland, Albania, Sweden, Norway, Great Britain, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Turkey, Malta and Cyprus.
Among the formally Montenegrin yachtsmen are shipowners from the Asian continent: Armenia, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Israel, Azerbaijan, Kuwait and Hong Kong. The North American continent is represented by owners from the USA and Canada, who registered their yachts in the Montenegrin registry. A couple of boats whose owners are from Australia are also registered, while the African continent is represented by yacht owners from Egypt, the Seychelles and the Republic of South Africa.
It is interesting that in our registry there are also yachts whose owners are from quite exotic destinations such as the British Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean Sea, the Marshall Islands and Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean.
Manko's initiative
According to the current Montenegrin Law on Yachts, a yacht is "a motor-driven or sailing vessel, which may have more than one hull, intended and equipped for a longer stay at sea, for leisure, sports and recreation, the length of which is greater than seven meters and which is used for personal needs or economic activity". This law was adopted in 2007 as part of the so-called "yacht friendly" legislation that was adopted in Montenegro at the initiative of a Canadian businessman Peter Munk and his company "Adriatic Marinas" at the time, in order to create an "encouraging environment for the development of yachting", i.e. for Manko, who then bought the Tivat military shipyard "Arsenal" as a plot for the construction of a nautical center with a marina, the most appropriate legal framework for the realization of his investments.
In our registry there are motor and sail-powered yachts - from the smallest boat, only 7,05 meters long, the so-called Fisherman type "Ocqueteau 735" whose owner is a Montenegrin citizen Nebojša Šofranac, to the largest ship, the 23,99 meter long luxury motor yacht "Lamakoja Topless". Although our registry states that this boat is less than 24 meters long, which puts it at the very bottom of the megayacht class, "Lamakoja Topless" is actually 27,3 meters long. It is a "maiora 27" type yacht, which was built in 2011 in the renowned Italian shipyard "Maiora", and which can accommodate up to 10 passengers who are cared for by three crew members. This luxurious fiberglass boat is powered by two powerful MTU diesel engines that give it an enviable maximum speed of 32 knots, and the current value of "Lamakoje Topless" is estimated at a little less than three million euros. The owner of this, the largest yacht currently flying the Montenegrin flag, is the company "Granit Invest" from Belgrade. Just below the limit of megayachts with a length of 23,91 meters is the two-masted wooden gulet type sailboat "Lady Sovereign II" which is registered to the company "MTL Yacht Club of Delaware LTD" from the USA as the owner.
Average size of yachts from 11 to 12 meters
By the way, the average size of a yacht registered in the Montenegrin registry is from 11 to 12 meters. In terms of the number of registered ships, in addition to local yachts, companies and citizens from Serbia and Russia lead the way, more than 100 of them decided to raise the Montenegrin flag on their vessels and to choose Kotor or Bar as their port of registration. So, for example, the Montenegrin flag is flown by the 22,7 meter long yacht "Elly", which is the property of a well-known Bosnian-Herzegovinian tycoon and politician born in Montenegro. Fahrudin Radončić. It is a "sunseeker 80" motor yacht of the same name by a renowned British yacht manufacturer, built in 2010, and which Radončić allegedly bought for a little over three million Bosnian convertible marks in October 2020. Radončić also had a yacht "Haya" before this, type "Princess 62", 19 meters long, on which the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina flew and was stationed in Porto Montenegro marina. That former ship was sold by Radončič in September 2020 to the company "Prointer Sistem" from Serbia, and today it is registered under the name "Miloš II" in the yacht registry and flies the Montenegrin flag. The company "Prointer IT Solution and Services" belongs to a Serbian businessman Slobodan Kvrgić whom the media in that country say is a close friend of the Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić.
The owner of the most famous Bosnian-Herzegovinian fashion brand "Granoff", a Sarajevo businessman and former Bosnian football international, also has a yacht in the Montenegrin registry. Emir Granov who registered with us his 10 meter long motor yacht "Lusso mare", type "FIM 340 Regina".
Motor yacht "M4", 13,86 meters long, type "princess V45" is registered in the Montenegrin registry in the name of a well-known Belgrade lawyer Zdenko Tomanovića who is now the chief defender of the former president of the Supreme Court of Montenegro Vesne Medenica, who is being tried according to the indictment of the Special Public Prosecutor's Office for alleged illegal influence and membership in a criminal organization. Serbian businessman Rodoljub Drasković, the politician's brother Vuk Drašković and the owner of the confectionery factory "Swisslion -Takovo", he is the owner of the 9,3 meter long yacht "Lav Nikolaj Fyodor" type "libeccio 31 cabin".
Among the Montenegrin celebrities in the domestic yacht registry are the 19-meter-long motor yacht "Helena", of the "princess 62" type, which is owned by a Budva businessman and convicted member of the criminal group of Svetozar Marović, Branislav Savić Gugi, but that boat is officially registered to his company. Gugi Commerce”. A considerably more modest motor yacht of the "Apreamare Cabin 28" type, 8,6 meters long, is owned by businessman Dejan Ban from Podgorica, whose company "Pomorski sabrojka" operated ferry services in Boka Kotorska until February of this year. The twelve-meter-long Jeanneau Prestige 42 motor yacht is registered in the yacht registry at the Podgorica-based company "Zetagradnja", owned by the Podgorica-based businessman Blagota Baća Radović, while the eight-meter-long "Boki" speedboat, of the "Invictus CX 270" type, is registered with the Podgorica-based company the company "Stadion" owned by Vojin Žugić, uncle of the former governor of the Central Bank Radoje Žugić. The company "Voli Motors" from Podgorica, backed by the owner of the "Voli" shopping chain Dragan Bokan, is registered as the official owner of the luxurious 27-meter motor yacht "Blue Sea" type "maiora 27".
Liberal law
The exotic fast motor yacht type "axopar 37 XC", 11,6 meters long, is owned by the company "Ljetopis Automotive", which is owned by businessman Borislav Mijović. It is also interesting that the company from Podgorica for the production, sale and service of orthopedic aids "Rudo Montenegro" is a businessman Aleksandar Miranović he has a 20 meter long luxury motor yacht "Mavrounija II", type "princess 65", registered in the Yacht Registry. Yachts of various sizes are also registered in the names of Montenegrin companies "Omorika Montenegro", "Tehno plus", "Euro tehnika MN", "Congress Travel", "Kalamper", "Kairos MNE"..... Lots of yachts flying the Montenegrin flag it is also registered to various companies from countries known as so-called tax havens such as British Virgin Islands, Marshall Islands, Liechtenstein, St. Kitts and Nevis, Hong Kong, Malta.
Although the Montenegrin Law on Yachts is extremely liberal and provides economically and administratively extremely favorable and non-restrictive conditions for the registration of yachts under our flag, and especially for the performance of economic activity (charter) with these vessels, so far no such yachts have been registered in the yacht register. a larger ship, longer than 30 meters. The only exception was the second-hand megayacht "Golden Eagle", 43 meters long, built in 1990 in Italy, which Peter Munk himself bought in 2009 and registered in the Montenegrin registry for purely promotional reasons. However, this ship did not remain under the Montenegrin flag for long, nor under a name that was associated with the golden eagle on the national coat of arms of Montenegro, because Mank soon renamed the yacht "Natalia V" after his daughter and re-registered it under the offshore flag of the British Dominion - Islands Man, so that with that flag on board he could use duty-free fuel in EU marinas.
Yachts from Delaware are mostly registered under the Montenegrin flag
UPSUL told "Vijesta" that from 2020 there is an increase in interest in registering in the register, but they confirmed that there is no interest in registering large yachts over 24 meters in length (mega and super yachts) under the Montenegrin flag.
"Used yachts are entered in our register in greater numbers than newly built or newly manufactured yachts. As for the previous registration of used yachts that are entered into our registry, yachts with the flag of the American federal state of Delaware are mostly registered with the Montenegrin flag", UPSUL said.
This information is quite logical because the yachts that the citizens of Montenegro and the region buy are most often acquired on lease, whereby the leasing companies insist that these vessels, until the buyer pays them off in full, remain registered in one of the foreign registries (most often Delaware), which guarantees that in case of non-payment of the buyer's obligations, they can easily get the yacht back into their possession.
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