Živković: Just as the incompetent and arrogant government was defeated in Budva, it will be defeated at the state level as well

Just as the ignorant, incompetent, arrogant, and above all, ill-intentioned government towards the interests of Budva and Montenegro was defeated in Budva, it will be defeated at the state level. After the parliamentary elections, Montenegro faces a challenging and intensive period of remediation of the catastrophic results of the post-August 30 liberators, from the security sector to the health sector.

This was stated by the president of the Democratic Party of Socialists (DPS), Danijel Živković, who was on a working visit today, where, according to a statement from his party, he met with numerous citizens, members and local officials, with whom he discussed the current political situation in that city and country.

He said that the example of Budva best shows how important political stability is for the development of the city in economic, tourist, infrastructural, and every other area.

"Now, a year has passed since the formation of the new government, we can say that Budva finally has all the conditions for the smooth functioning of local self-government. The example of Budva has shown what we have been continuously pointing out - that without the Democratic Party of Socialists, there is no political stability. And we can rightly state what the results of the work of the new local self-government in Budva indicate - chaos has been remedied, from political to communal, and this city today has a chance to regain its status as a prestigious tourist destination," said Živković.

That is why, he added, it is extremely important that the state finds a way to implement what is probably the most important project for Budva - a bypass worth over 200 million euros.

"Also, the Government must reduce taxes on the tourism industry. As a reminder, the current state government increased VAT in tourism from 7% to 15%, thereby creating an environment in which tourism entrepreneurs were forced to raise prices. The best evidence of what prices are like on the Montenegrin coast is the fact that 2/3 of Montenegrin citizens cannot afford a 7-day vacation at the seaside. Therefore, it is urgently necessary that, if we want our tourism industry to be competitive, and we probably want to and we are probably aware that Montenegro largely lives off tourism, the Government reduce taxes on services in the hospitality industry at least from the current 15% to 9%," the DPS leader stated.

He reminded her of the statement by a state government representative that inflation is good for the budget, and emphasized that local governments also have a responsibility to create additional incentive measures for tourism workers and consider reducing parafiscality at a time when the state has placed the entire burden of filling the state coffers on the economy and citizens.