Podgorica, (MINA) - Montenegro has finally left its smuggling past  behind and is returning to European path, where it belongs, said Prime Minister Milojko Spajic.

He said this to journalists at the Free Zone of the Port of Bar, where the process of destruction of confiscated tobacco products was officially completed.

Spajic said that, owing to strong support from partners in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Commission, Montenegro completed the challenging task of destroying the last batch of cigarettes that are not under investigation, which, he said, is about 90 percent of the cigarettes stored in the Free Zone.

“It’s around EUR 200 million, or 1.7 tons of cigarettes. That’s an incredible amount for our small country”, said Spajic.

He said that the damage to the state would have amounted to hundreds of millions of EUR.

“I think we have avoided such a scenario and this is a clear sign of the rule of law, not only to the national public, but to the entire world and the EC that Montenegro has finally left its smuggling past behind. We are returning to the European tracks where we belong”, said Spajic.

He congratulated everyone involved in this, as he stated, demanding process.

“The next steps are ahead of us – amending the law on free zones, which will be in the parliament very soon and we will have a solid foundation for building a healthy trade and economy in the country”, Spajic said.

UK Ambassador to Montenegro Dawn McKen said that the Montenegrin Government acted decisively to destroy tobacco products in a transparent and credible manner.