Restaurateurs: Closing the bar would have disastrous consequences

The non-governmental organization "Restaurants of Montenegro" announced today that they are unpleasantly surprised by the possibility that the Government could make a decision to close catering establishments during the holidays just a few days before the New Year.

They called on the Government not to allow the closure of the premises, but also on the authorities to sanction all restaurateurs who do not respect the existing measures, because the favorable epidemiological situation is in everyone's interest.

"The restaurateurs are now in an unpleasant and uncertain situation because almost all of them have sold the arrangements for the reception, and the closure of the premises during the upcoming New Year and Christmas holidays is a blow to all of us who feed our families with this bread, which will result in the accumulation of losses, but also a reduction in filling the state budget", they emphasize in the announcement.

They said that they had all provided certain supplies of food "which, by all accounts, will perish", so they asked who would compensate them for any damage.

They also state that they are disappointed that the authorities "didn't listen this time either" to the restaurateurs, with whom, as they said, dialogue was once again absent.

"We are sure that through joint talks we could reach a compromise in the interests of all, instead of the government discriminating against us again and only imprisoning us as if we were the only cause of the spread of the infection. We are aware that health comes first, but we must note that no one can afford the luxury of not working for two weeks, because this will be a big blow for many, because of which they will have to close bars and lay off workers," the statement added.

Restaurateurs point out that they expect more traffic during the holidays. "Which also means higher tax revenues flowing into the state coffers from which the state administration is financed, and the closure will have catastrophic consequences for both us and the state. Once again, we call on the authorities to reconsider this decision before they do catastrophic damage and to us and to them", they conclude from "Ugostitelator Montenegro".