EUR 7.92 MILLION IN FINES ISSUED DURING SUMMER TOURIST SEASON

PODGORICA, OCTOBER 8 /SRNA/ - A total of EUR 7.92 million in fines was imposed in Montenegro during the summer tourist season, Minister without Portfolio Milutin Butorović said.

Butorović said that during stepped-up inspections from July 2 to September 9, 253 businesses were sealed and 34 requests were filed to initiate misdemeanor proceedings.

Montenegrin inspectors carried out nearly 15,000 inspections, around 5,000 more than last year, while the total value of fines doubled, Montenegrin media reported.

Mijomir Tapušković, head of the working group for the preparation and monitoring of the summer tourist season, said a large number of inspections in the tourism and hospitality sector focused on maintaining order at beaches.

"Significant results were achieved in trade and consumer protection, particularly in combating the smuggling of protected goods and counterfeit branded products. Goods worth around two million euros were seized," Tapušković said, adding that numerous inspections were also carried out in the area of food safety.

Andrej Vučeković, adviser to the president of the Coordination Body, singled out the seizure of jet skis as one of the more significant operations.

"We are aware of the chaos at sea caused by reckless jet ski operators. In previous years, we had not seized a single one of these vehicles, while this year we seized more than 20," Vučeković said.

Regarding inspections in Kotor, Vučeković said that after the first operation, sellers moved goods from retail outlets into warehouses, where they took cruise ship tourists to make sales.

He added that authorities had established that the warehouses contained counterfeit goods bearing the Hugo Boss, Louis Vuitton, Nike and Prada brands.