Meeting with Meglena Plugchieva – the new Bulgarian Ambassador to Montenegro

A meeting with the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to Montenegro Meglena Plugchieva was held at the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. BCCI’s President Tsvetan Simeonov informed the Ambassador about the state of the chamber’s relations with partner organizations in Montenegro. BCCI’s cooperation with the Chamber of Economy of Montenegro dates back to 2003 and is linked to the relations within the Association of the European Chambers of Commerce and Industry “EUROCHAMBRES”, the Association of Balkan Chambers and other international and regional initiatives.

Tsvetan Simeonov pointed out the main directions for cooperation with the partners from Montenegro, including: cooperation in the field of commercial arbitration – exchange of experience, joint participation in international projects, exchange of business visits in order to find new partners, etc. Simeonov reminded of the support that BCCI gave for the EU perspective of the Western Balkans.

Ambassador Plugchieva said that among the priorities of her mission are encouraging Bulgarian companies to participate in the privatization process in Montenegro, and expanding trade turnover and investment in both directions. The Head of the Commercial and Economic Section of the Embassy in Podgorica appointed in the autumn of 2018 – Bogomil Bogdanov, with whom a meeting has already been held, will also be working to achieve these goals.

According to information from the Ministry of Economy, Bulgaria's trade with Montenegro grew by 17,7% in 2017, and for the first half of 2018 it grew by 26,35% compared to the same period of the previous year. The volume of bilateral trade in 2017 amounted to EUR 17,68 million. The balance has traditionally been positive for our country and for the cited period amounted to EUR 11,1 million.