Podgorica, (MINA-BUSINESS) – The Union of Municipalities (ZOCG) submitted to Parliament an amendment to the Bill on the Management of State-Owned Enterprises, in order to ensure the functioning of municipal enterprises engaged in non-commercial activities.

ZOCG explained that the bill fails to take into account that municipal enterprises performing non-commercial activities cannot meet the requirement of covering at least 50 percent of their operating costs under accounting regulations.

“These are enterprises recognized under the Law on Utility Services, which allows for the establishment of companies to perform utility services of shared public consumption, where the service cannot be measured or otherwise individually determined and charged,” ZOCG said.

According to ZOCG, the Law on Spatial Planning also prescribes the establishment of companies for drafting planning documents for the Government and local administrations, which do not provide commercial services.

“The establishment of such companies cannot be made conditional on covering at least 50 percent of their own operating costs through revenues generated from the sale of goods or the provision of services, since they do not market services or goods and are fully financed from the budget,” the explanation of the amendment states.