Spajić: Montenegro has shed a great shame, a decades-long stigma, of being a smuggling country

By receiving the Bloomberg Foundation's award for global tobacco control, Montenegro has shed the great shame of being a smuggling country, said Prime Minister Milojko Spajić.

Spajić and Finance Minister Novica Vuković were presented with the Bloomberg Foundation's Global Tobacco Control Award for this year on Monday, for Montenegro's exceptional achievements.

"Montenegro has just, in the most beautiful way possible, shed a great shame, a decades-long stigma that has accompanied us all this time, that we are a smuggling country," Spajić said in a statement to the media.

As he said, Montenegro received great recognition from the Michael Bloomberg Foundation - for preventing cigarette smuggling and increasing revenues threefold, from around 40 million to 120 million euros.

"This has enabled higher salaries, higher pensions and higher revenues for our country," said Spajić.