The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management has not created the necessary conditions for the implementation of the Forest Law as of January 1st of this year, namely, established a new state company that will manage the forest fund and procured machinery for its work. This department is managed by Vladimir Jokovic who also heads the Socialist People's Party (SNP).
Members of the SNP Sladjana Kaluđerović i Bogdan Božović Meanwhile, on January 17, they submitted amendments to this regulation for parliamentary procedure - according to which its application would only begin on the first day of 2026. MPs must vote on the amendments in parliament.
"Vijesti" is also expecting answers from the Ministry of Agriculture about when the full implementation of this law can be expected and why the conditions for its implementation have not been created since January this year.
The Parliament adopted the Forest Law on July 31, which abandons the concession model of forest use and forms a new company that, along with workers, would take over most of the responsibilities from the Forest and Hunting Management Administration and deal with logging, felling, and the removal of felled trees.
SNP MPs are specifically requesting an amendment to Article 100 of the Act, which would change the date of its application and postpone its start to 2026. It is emphasized that the amendments have been proposed in order to implement the regulation in full capacity.
"The implementation of the Forest Law provides, among other things, for the establishment of a state-owned enterprise that would take over most of the responsibilities of the Forest Administration. However, to date, this state-owned enterprise has not been established, nor has the necessary machinery been purchased for its work. Since these are tasks of exceptional importance for Montenegro, it is necessary to implement the procedure for establishing the aforementioned state-owned enterprise, as well as certain of its departments in individual cities, in order to specify, through the so-called "pilot project", how successful they can be in performing the tasks entrusted to them. The proposed amendment postpones the start of the implementation of the Forest Law. Namely, it is in the interest of the state bodies that will implement this law that the new system functions at full capacity, in order to achieve the projected goals of the aforementioned law," the explanation of the amendment states.
"Vijesti" expects answers from the Ministry of Agriculture about when the full implementation of this law can be expected and why the conditions for its implementation have not been created since January this year.
The Forest Law states that the new state-owned company will be established within three months, or by mid-November. This has not happened, as was pointed out by the Union of Employees of the Forest and Hunting Management Administration at the end of last year, which appealed for the implementation of the regulations to be postponed and for the expert services of the Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture to make amendments that will regulate the situation in the forestry sector in the long term.
"The law was necessary to create and adopt for several practical reasons, including obtaining funds from a World Bank loan, and that the amendment process at the end of the year will fully regulate the problematic articles of the law, primarily referring to the competences of forest protection, allocation and management, which should remain under the authority of the Administration. Likewise, this will affect the operations of all companies that are beneficiaries of valid contracts whose implementation is underway. The developments in public companies engaged in forestry activities in the region show us that our concerns are not unfounded, because they will end this business year with large losses and problems in organizational terms," the union announced.
In August, the Trade Union Organization of the Administration told "Vijesti" that the law is bad, that the profession did not participate in its drafting, that the Administration's proposals were not accepted, that its implementation is technically impossible, that it will lead to chaos, and that it is planned to introduce external contractors - private individuals into the forests who will once again be able to do whatever they want.
They held a similar view in the NGO sector, with environmental activists telling "Vijesti" Aleksandar Dragićević i Darko Saveljic They said that this law was a fake public debate, that it was done by "gravediggers of Montenegrin forestry", that the law does not protect protected forests from logging, that private companies as subcontractors will once again get cheap timber, and that the forests will be massacred...
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