The Montenegro Stock Exchange week was marked by a slight rise in indices and a drop in trading volume, highlighted by the sale of nearly 75% of Hipotekarna Bank’s shares for €74.98 million.
The MNSE10 index of the top ten companies increased by 0.07% to 1,180.2 points, and the MONEX index rose by 0.3% to 17,692.85 points. However, trading volume fell to €84,140, about 2.4 times lower than the previous week.
Shares of Luka Bar rose 9.6% to €0.33, and Crnogorski Telekom increased slightly to €2.27, while Crnogorski elektroprenosni sistem (CGES) shares dropped 4% to €1.20. Other traded stocks included TPC “Ražnatović,” Sveti Stefan Hotel, and UTIP Crna Gora.
On Monday, AIK Group, led by Serbian businessman Aleksandar Kostić, acquired 74.9% of Hipotekarna Bank’s shares at €9.77 per share, totaling 7.67 million shares. This acquisition raises AIK Group’s net assets to €10 billion and finalizes a deal initiated in December 2023 after regulatory approvals.
Finance Minister Novica Vuković reported that Montenegro’s economy is showing positive activity in early 2025, with real GDP growth of 2.5% in Q1, exceeding the EU average of 1.6%. He emphasized challenges ahead due to global uncertainties and the need to maintain fiscal stability. Since December 2020, over €2.7 billion of old debts have been repaid, with €1.5 billion repaid under the current government. Montenegro faces the historic challenge of addressing debts accumulated before 2020 and ensuring fiscal stability. The budget deficit averaged over 5% annually from 2011 to 2020, and public debt rose from 45.5% to 105.3% of GDP during that period.
This week, minority shareholder Ellena Group filed a criminal complaint against Vektra Boka’s executive director Milan Popović and others, alleging damage of over €1.6 million due to a harmful contract signed in personal interest regarding a parking lease at Hotel Tamaris. Ellena Group claims the contract was concealed from other board members and shareholders and that a better offer was rejected.
Additionally, Montenegrin Telecom shareholders began receiving dividends for the previous year, with a gross dividend of €0.12 per share, totaling €5.48 million distributed from the company’s profits. The dividend payments will be subject to applicable taxes.
