The Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development participated in the Panel Discussion: ‘Administrative Barriers that Young Entrepreneurs Meet in Montenegro – Can EU Models and Experience Help?’, organized at the EU Info Center. The panelists were:
– Boris Koprivnikar, CEO of Sincular Consulting; Formerly Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia
– Uros Bulatovic, President and Founder of the Union of Young Entrepreneurs of Montenegro
– Dragana Radevic, Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development
– Ana Sebek, Independent Advisor in the Directorate for Investments, Development of Small and Medium Enterprises and Management of EU Funds of the Ministry of Economy of Montenegro
– Milan Dragic, Executive Director of Montenegro Business Alliance
Young entrepreneurs in Montenegro point out to the long and expensive procedures as the most significant barrier in their business. During the panel we could have heard that complicated procedures often prevent young entrepreneurs from achieving their goals. Often their ideas are difficult to be registered in the current legislative framework and they are often under pressure from the innovations being introduced.
‘Our focus should be on popularizing young people and their initiatives. It is necessary to create network of support for young entrepreneurs so that they connect with each other and with representatives of the administration. To get in direct contact with their dilemmas. And not to give up.’, Dragana Radevic said, director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development.
‘No country in the world has solved the problem of bureaucracy. Its role is to enforce the existing legislation and it must be effective. Slovenia has created a rather compact administration that coordinates everything within the country and at one point communicates with the entrepreneur.’, Boris Koprivnikar said, Advisor in the field of complex digital systems, former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia. ‘When starting a business in Slovenia, I need to know what papers I should have and what taxes I should pay. Everything new and unplanned destroys entrepreneurship. If a law changes – it must always be changed through dialogue at the socio-economic council. As someone who is a small entrepreneur, Koprivnikar has not gone to one counter in the past year.
He completes all his obligations through e-government services. Both Montenegro and Slovenia need to decide in which direction they are moving, to define the core of their economic development in order for entrepreneurs to have a stable framework in which to move.’, Koprivnikar believes. ‘After that, coordination and cooperation is the most important thing. Slovenia was able to centralize all its data on one platform, which enabled it to create different offers that make it easier for entrepreneurs to do business.’, Koprivnikar emphasized.
‘It’s not about money, it’s about acquaintances. Most often, acquaintances jump over administrative barriers. I’m not saying that someone does it on purpose, it’s a matter of awareness. The question is also who is important to us. Is it a tax clerk or a tax-paying entrepreneur? Behavioral patterns are changing and this requires more work as well as changing priorities.’, Radevic said.
There is still a need for security in Montenegro and it prevails over the entrepreneurial spirit. It is safer to work in state administration than to risk earning more than a salary. This is why entrepreneurship needs to be discussed and entrepreneurs must be respected. Montenegro has no history of an entrepreneurial state, although entrepreneurship itself brings new value.
‘Online public administration platforms in Montenegro are not functioning, panel participants said. It often happens that after everything that is done online, the entrepreneur must physically visit the counters. Everyone who creates procedures and laws should create them so that they are friendly to young entrepreneurs.’, Uros Bulatovic said, the Union of Young Entrepreneurs of Montenegro.
