Today, the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, returned the Law on Amendments to the Law on Value Added Tax and the Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise Taxes to the Parliament for re-decision, his cabinet announced.
He announced this at a press conference two days ago.
When it comes to the Law on Amendments to the Law on VAT, the explanation states that the proposed legal amendments raise the reduced VAT rate to 15 percent for certain products and services from the tourism, culture and art sectors. Also, the law foresees the collection of VAT on the import of shipments of insignificant value, up to the amount of 75 euros.
"I believe that an increase in the VAT rate can further contribute to price growth, which would increase inflationary pressures on the Montenegrin economy. Continued price increases will further erode the living standards of citizens, who are already faced with economic challenges and rising costs. Such a measure can also have negative effects on the tourism sector, reducing its competitiveness and the volume of transactions in that key sector of our economy. In addition, price increases in the areas of education and culture may reduce access to these services, which would potentially lead to an increase in social inequality," said Milatović.
When it comes to the Law on Amendments to the Law on Excise Taxes, the explanation states that this law proposes to introduce an excise tax on still wines at 25 euros per hectoliter, with a reduction of 50 percent for small wine producers who produce up to 1.000 hectoliters for commercial purposes. wines per year.
It was assessed that in this way the Government directly threatens the competitiveness of domestic wine producers, including the national company "13. July - Plantaže", which is one of the key business entities in the wine sector.
"I believe that it is against the social interest to make decisions that negatively affect domestic production and favor imports." Instead, the priority must be to protect and support domestic producers, in order to ensure their competitiveness and preserve jobs, and reduce our country's dependence on imports. "Supporting domestic production, especially companies of national importance like "Plantaža", but also the entire ecosystem of small wine producers, is key to preserving the production base of our economy, better covering imports with exports and ensuring sustainable growth," the explanation reads.
Today, Milatović signed the Law on Amendments to the Law on Vocational Training of Persons with Higher Education, the Law on Amendments to the Law on Higher Education, the Law on Write-off of Interest on Due Tax Obligations, the Law on Amendments to the Law on Corporate Income Tax, as well as the Law on Amendments to the Law on Personal Income Tax.
The president of the country, his cabinet reminds, on Monday returned the Law on Contributions for Mandatory Social Insurance because it "threatens the stability of the PIO fund and destroys the system of intergenerational solidarity built over decades."
"This is not about politics, but about the future of people who have dedicated their entire working life to this country. Deputies must understand the gravity of this decision - they will be responsible for the deficit in the PIO fund and the reduction of pensions of future pensioners. The fact that 5,5% of the gross salary, which is almost 150 million euros, is taken from the workers' salaries from the PIO Fund and redirected to large capital, which is currently recording record profits, is particularly worrying," said Milatović.
On Monday, he signed the Labor Law and assessed that it is clear that the Government has failed the expectations of more than 100.000 workers who were promised a minimum salary of 700 euros at a time when they are "facing a major collapse in living standards."
"Nevertheless, I believe that it is necessary to show responsibility, in order to alleviate at least a little the effects of record inflation and the impaired purchasing power of a large number of our citizens. I appeal to the Government of Montenegro to urgently propose a clear and fair formula for calculating the minimum wage, which will follow the increase in price growth and the consumer basket. In this way, in the future, we will prevent the manipulation of earnings for the purpose of collecting political points," said Milatović.
Two days ago, he also signed the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Budget of Montenegro for 2024.
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