The latest data from the Central Bank (CBCG) show that the net inflow of foreign direct investments in the first five months is down by more than a third compared to the same period last year. Commenting on the CBCG data, economic analyst Mirza Mulešković said that it is worrying that in the first five months we have 50% less investment in the economy.
– There was a significant drop of 50% in investments in companies, that is, those investments that bring economic profit in the long term – said Mulešković.
He clarified that this means that the investments that are currently in Montenegro are investments exclusively in real estate and investments that do not provide additional economic value in the long term. He stated that, if you look at the structure of the investments themselves, you can see that even 50% of the inflow of investments in Montenegro was in real estate.
– This is a clear picture that foreign investors only see Montenegro as a destination where they will invest in real estate and that in this way we are sending the image that we are not an attractive country for investments in the economy at the moment, that we are not an attractive country for investments in the development of the real economy, but only for real estate – said Mulešković and warned that this trend of investment in real estate could be stopped when the war in Ukraine calms down.
– Spectacular results of the government in terms of investments were last year solely because we had a huge influx of foreign citizens from Russia, Ukraine and Serbia who bought real estate, which can be seen in the structure of foreign investments – said Mulešković.
He said that Montenegro must have a much better business environment management policy, as well as that a government must be created that will provide political stability “so that Montenegro would be recognized as a country where investments should be made and a country with a favorable and transparent business environment” because, as he says, in the last three years, we have been anything but that.
– The decisions that were made in the last three years were made ad hoc without any dialogue, overnight, which further disrupted the business environment and reduced the attractiveness of Montenegro as an investment destination, also the increase of certain tax rates had a negative impact on investors, and certain decisions of the previous two governments, which chased away investors from Montenegro, sent a negative image of Montenegro, and therefore we cannot expect to have credible investors who will invest in Montenegro – said Mulešković.
