Agenda 2030: Measuring Progress in the Montenegro’s National Strategy for Sustainable Development through SDG Indicators

The Government of Montenegro nationalized 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development by adopting the National Strategy for Sustainable Development (NSSD) in 2016, together with a corresponding Action Plan for its implementation. The NSSD is umbrella, horizontal and long-term development strategy of Montenegro that relates not only to environment and economics, but also to human resources, valuable social capital that should ensure prosperous development, recommendations for establishing the framework of financing and governance for sustainable development. The NSSD represents strategic framework for the transposition of the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and its indicators into national context. The NSSD Action plan, divided into 6 thematic areas with 30 strategic goals of sustainable development of Montenegro and their 102 measures and 601 sub-measures, represents very complex mechanism for monitoring and reporting about achieving the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Montenegro. Hence, measuring progress in the NSSD implementation is the focus of this research. Effective measuring of the progress in the NSSD implementation could be achieved under the following preconditions: developed coordination mechanism for reporting, methodology of designing indicators, IT support for data collection and reporting, and strengthening of inter-linkages between the EU agenda and UN 2030 Agenda

Serbian consumer law: Out with the old, in with the new

The is a pre-print version (prior to acceptance/ pre-refereeing). Copyright © 2019 by SAGE Publication

Results of Fiscal Consolidation in Republic of Serbia

AbstractFiscal adjustment or fiscal consolidation is being performed on both the revenue and expenditure side of the budget. The authorities have at their disposal two instrumental variables available: taxes and public expenditure, divided into public spending, investment and transfer. To be able to achieve the desired effect, fiscal policy aims aligning these instrumental variables that are available to it. However, achieving the proper balance is difficult and it is uncertain which of the two instrumental variables have the strongest effect on economic activity. Traditional Keynesian theory holds that the changes within public expenditure are more effective instrumental variables than tax changes. This is because the concerned procurement of goods and services have a direct impact on GDP, while taxes shows its indirect effect trough decisions of households and businesses on consumption and investment. The Serbian Government has taken several measures in recent years, both on the revenue and on the expenditure side of the budget. The main aim of these measures is to reduce the budget deficit and consequently public debt, which is located at an alarming level. The aim of this study is to analyze the effects of the undertaken measures and suggesting possible effective measures to solve these problems

Montenegro’s Integration Perspective in a Time of Crisis

The fifth enlargement (10+2) was a milestone in theunification of Europe, fifteen years after the Cold War was over.It has brought greater economic prosperity for all the citizens inthe EU, and it made Europe a stronger player in the globaleconomy, by deepening of economic integration and encouragingof competitiveness. Having in mind economic and politicalachievements of the fifth enlargement, countries in the Region,that are knocking on the door of joint European home, includingMontenegro, have defined accession process to the EU as theirstrategic priority, „Europeanization“ as an engine of all reformprocesses and positive changes in the society, expecting, at thesame time, that future Brussels enlargement policy will beequally encouraging and open for new Member States

Chemical Profile and Antioxidant Activity of Helianthus Tuberosus

Helianthus tuberosus L., commonly known as the Jerusalem artichoke, belongs to Helianthus genus and Asteraceae botanical family. Due to its wide range of biological activities, aim of this study was to investigate chemical profile of extracts obtained using different approaches: maceration, percolation, infusion and Soxhlet extraction. Extracts were further investigated regarding heavy metal, saccharides, total phenolics and total flavonoids contents, as well as antioxidant activity using DPPH assay. Obtained results showed presence of all investigated species, as well as significant capability of prepared extract to scavenge DPPH radicals

Governance and Growth in the Western Balkans: A SVAR Approach

The quality of economic governance is one of the prerequisites for sustainable and faster economic development of the Western Balkan countries, having in mind their historical background, dissolution of the ex-Yugoslavia, specific economic circumstances during the transition recession of the 1990s, slow economic recovery at the beginning of the twenty-first century, strong impact of the global financial and economic crisis, and long and complexed path towards the European Union (EU). The main research problem in this paper is examining the dynamic relationships among government effectiveness, inflation, and GDP across Albania, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia. We employ the Worldwide Governance Indicators of the World Bank, namely, the Governance Effectiveness Indicator, as one of the six broad dimensions of governance. Using a structural VAR approach, we examine the time-varying effects of economic governance shocks on inflation and economic growth dynamics for each of the Western Balkan (WB) countries in the period of January 2006 to December 2018. Our findings allow the WB policymakers to understand the impact of institutional strength involved in identifying the onset of sustainable development dynamics and the EU integration process in WB better and develop more effective government regulations that can be employed nationally

PRODUCTIVITY OF EARLY AND MEDIUM EARLY APRICOT CULTIVARS IN THE BELGRADE AREA

Characteristics of productivity and growth (yield per tree, trunk cross-sectional area, yield efficiency and fruit weight) were studied in 40 apricot cultivars of early and medium early maturity in the Belgrade area during the six-year period (2009 – 2014). The cultivar ‘Hungarian Best’ was used as a control for comparison. The period of study was divided to initial bearing (age of trees three and four years) and full bearing (age of trees from five to eight years). Significant differences in yield between cultivars and years were found. Average yield in the period of initial bearing ranged from 0.3 to 11.3 kg per tree, and in the period of full bearing from 5.6 to 24.8 kg per tree. Compared with the control cultivar, significantly higher yield was obtained in 17 cultivars. Adverse weatherconditions resulted in significant reduction of yield in two out of six years of study. Cumulative yield efficiency varied from 0.17 to 0.87 kg/cm2 and in 19 cultivars it was significantly higher compared with the control cultivar. Fruit weight ranged from 27.7 to 80.1 g. Compared with control, fruit weight was significantly higher in nine cultivars, and significantly lower in 11 cultivars