Montenegro’s Ministry of Public Works has selected a Podgorica-based engineering company to design and build the planned Lovćen–Cetinje cable car, a tourism infrastructure project valued at approximately €59.2 million. The winning bidder is the company XEnergy, formerly known as Novi Volvox, whose offer was evaluated as the most favourable in the public procurement procedure.
The project covers the preparation of full technical documentation as well as the construction of an approximately 11-kilometre cable-car line connecting the Lovćen plateau with the historic capital Cetinje. The development represents the second phase of a broader gondola system intended to link the Boka Kotorska coast with the Lovćen mountain region and Cetinje.
The selected contractor already has experience in similar projects in Montenegro. The same company, together with the Italian ropeway manufacturer Leitner, participated in the development of the Kotor–Lovćen cable car, which opened in 2023 and operates under a 30-year concession agreement.
XEnergy was the only bidder in the tender process. The project will involve a network of subcontractors, including companies from Montenegro and Serbia such as Briv Construction, Geonex, Studio Grad, Planplus, Geo Max Group, GP Team, Liming Projekt, ING Invest, and the Belgrade-based engineering firm Koto.
The tender for the project was announced in November, with bids opened on 31 December, after which the ministry proceeded with the evaluation process. The project is being implemented under a “design and build” model, meaning the selected contractor will both prepare the final project documentation and carry out construction works.
According to the technical framework for the project, the cable car system will include stations and supporting infrastructure capable of transporting between 100 and 800 passengers per hour. In addition to the gondola infrastructure itself, the contractor will also be responsible for designing and building access roads, electrical supply connections, and other supporting infrastructure required for construction and operation.
The Lovćen–Cetinje line is planned to include a mid-station at Ivanova Korita, an important recreational and tourist area within Lovćen National Park. Once completed, the cable car will form part of a wider tourist corridor connecting Kotor, Lovćen and Cetinje, allowing visitors from the Adriatic coast to reach the mountain plateau and the historic royal capital by gondola transport.
Earlier planning documents divided the entire gondola system into several sections with multiple terminals along the route. These include Dub (near Kotor), Kuk on Lovćen, Ivanova Korita, and Cetinje, forming a total transport corridor of roughly 15 kilometres once all phases are completed.
Local authorities have indicated that the new Lovćen–Cetinje section could be completed and opened during the next year, depending on construction dynamics and permitting procedures. The project is expected to significantly strengthen tourism flows between Montenegro’s coastal region and its historic inland destinations.
Beyond its role as a transport link, the cable car is intended to function as a major tourism attraction in its own right. Panoramic gondola routes across the Lovćen mountain massif offer views over the Boka Kotorska bay and the Adriatic coast, a landscape that is already a key draw for international visitors to Montenegro. The extension toward Cetinje is expected to further integrate mountain tourism, cultural heritage sites and coastal tourism into a single visitor corridor.
The investment therefore reflects a broader strategy to diversify Montenegro’s tourism infrastructure and increase the economic impact of visitor flows from the coast toward inland regions such as Lovćen and Cetinje. By improving accessibility and creating a new panoramic transport route across the mountain range, the project aims to stimulate additional tourism spending while strengthening connections between some of Montenegro’s most important cultural and natural landmarks.
