Montenegro

The South-East European region became very attractive for investments after 2000, with the start of reforms and positive political and economic developments. Montenegro has made much progress. The government replaced the Yugoslav “dinar” with the euro; inflation has declined to 1.8 per cent in 2005. The Montenegrin credit rating has been evaluated at BB+ and 87% of government property has been privatised. The movement of capital is free and the corporate tax rate is 9 per cent. Personal income tax rates, between 15.5 per cent and 23.5 per cent, are among the lowest in Europe. Montenegro's flat value-added tax of 17 per cent is also low compared to the rest of Europe.

Raiffeisen Investment has been active in the region since 2000 and became the leading M&A and privatisation adviser to both the government of Montenegro and private clients. The representative office of Raiffeisen Investment offers an in-depth knowledge of local M&A markets and experienced staff with broad range of skills in various sectors.

According to the Thomson Financial, in the period 2004-2005 Raiffeisen Investment was the number one financial advisor in South-East Europe according to the number of deals. Raiffeisen Investment advised on the largest deal to date so far in Montenegro (the privatisation of Telecom Montenegro) and is currently advising on the privatisation of the Thermo power Plant and Coal Mine. Due to its position on the Mediterranean coast and alpine mountains in the country, Montenegro’s main industry is tourism. Raiffeisen Investment advised a private client on the acquisition of the Hotel Splendid. Raiffeisen Investment also acted as the exclusive financial advisor to the government for the privatisation of the tourism industry through a public tender (privatised Hotel Montenegro, Tara, Bellevue, Mediteran, Rivijera in Petrovac, Ville Oliva, and hotel companies Korali, and UTIP Crna Gora).