Podgorica to Test the ‘Euro Model’ in October: How It Will Affect Salaries Paid from the Capital’s Budget

The Montenegrin capital Podgorica will learn in October how the government’s “Euro model” program could affect salary allocations — after a test phase determines the difference between the current and the new salary calculation, the secretary of the Secretariat for Financial Affairs and Budget Analysis, Balša Špadijer, told “Vijesti” yesterday.

Preparations for Podgorica’s budget for next year are underway, with 33 budget units; local budget units are required to submit their budget proposals by October 1.

Prime Minister Milojko Spajić announced the new salary-increase model on September 17, to be implemented from January next year: a minimum wage of 1,000 euros for workers with basic education or lower, 1,250 euros for secondary education and 1,400 euros for higher education.

This week Spajić met with municipal mayors, some of whom warned that the new calculation could seriously hit the sustainability of local budgets, especially northern municipalities.

DPS councillor Andrija Klikovac claims that through the “Euro model” Podgorica will lose over 10 million euros and that local public enterprises will not be able to finance salaries from revenues without changing tariffs.

Employer representatives (UPCG) also expressed concern; the president of the Assembly of the Union of Employers, Slaviša Šćekić, assessed yesterday that the chances of an agreement between the government and employers are currently minimal.

Source: Vijesti