Pros and cons of holidays in Budva. My experience of emigration to Montenegro. The process of obtaining a residence permit in Montenegro

More and more of our fellow citizens are asking the question: “Where to leave Russia?” And among the possible candidate countries for living, Montenegro is increasingly beginning to be considered. Despite all the controversial issues, this miniature Balkan state has a number of undoubted advantages and becomes a second homeland for someone. So who should move to Montenegro and what should you expect from this country, as well as its inhabitants? All the pros and cons of immigration to Montenegro.

Montenegro and migrants

Montenegro is very popular among migrants of different categories. Statistics show that this small Balkan country is in fifth place among European countries that are most attractive for immigration for various reasons, including in matters of seeking asylum.

Since the early 2000s, there has been a steady increase in the number of migrants to this country. In particular, statistics say that in 2014 Montenegro received over 2,300 applications, of which more than half (more than 70%) were submitted by refugees from Syria. There are also quite a lot of applications from Iraqis and Afghans, followed in number by residents of the Republic of Kosovo. It so happened that, due to its geographical location and some other reasons, Montenegro plays the role of a transit state for residents of the Middle East and Asia on their way to more western and northern European countries.

Due to the closure of Turkey and Egypt, an increase in both tourists and migrants from Russia should be expected in Montenegro.

Has immigration to Montenegro been popular among Russians in recent years?

Immigration to Montenegro is becoming increasingly popular among residents of Russia and other CIS countries. This is due to several reasons:

• after the Czech Republic introduced changes to immigration legislation that were unfavorable for Russians, people began to open up other European countries, including Montenegro;
• moving to Montenegro is significantly easier and cheaper than to most other European countries;
• Montenegro is a candidate for EU membership;
• April 1, 2015 was marked by a new law, according to which foreign citizens have the right to obtain a residence permit based on existing real estate;
• for immigrants from Russia, Montenegro is attractive, among other things, due to its historical and cultural proximity with our country;
• Despite the fact that today Montenegro is rather weak in terms of economy and cannot boast of a high standard of living, experts believe that it has promising potential, which makes it tempting for immigrants.

Immigrants' standard of living

Montenegro is not a country with the highest standard of living even by the standards of Eastern Europe, and the latter, as is known, is already somewhat behind Western Europe in this indicator. The average salary is about five hundred euros; whoever receives more is considered a wealthy person.

Job

To be honest, work is not easy; many specialties are not in demand. However, the plus is that in the summer you can always get a job somewhere in the tourism sector, especially on the coast. Montenegro is a country with a developing economy, which cannot but affect the standard of living of both citizens of this state and those who want to find a new homeland here.

There is a practice of issuing salaries in envelopes, which, accordingly, means a tax burden only on the official part of income.

Products, clothes

The products here are cheap, and this fact is complemented by their high quality and consistent freshness. There is strict control, and food that does not meet the necessary requirements has no chance of making it onto store shelves.

Clothes are expensive, and the choice is not always satisfactory, and Montenegrins have found two solutions. You can go shopping for things in Italy, where there is a much wider selection of different brand names; or you can shop in Serbia, where clothes of excellent quality are sold at very low prices.

Speaking about prices, you need to know that in Montenegro the practice of pricing for “friends” and “strangers” is common. It’s always cheaper for our own people, often several times cheaper. Until the visitor has integrated into the local society and is perceived as a stranger, most of all products and goods for him will be offered 2 - 3 times more expensive than for his neighbor - a native Montenegrin. However, if over time you integrate successfully enough and they recognize you as “one of their own,” life will become much cheaper and more enjoyable. It must be said that this phenomenon is typical for markets and small private shops (of which, however, there are a lot in Montenegro, and many purchases are made in them); In large stores and supermarkets, such a practice does not exist.

Communal payments

Utility bills also take up a lot of money. Like almost everywhere in Europe, Internet in Montenegro is quite expensive, for which you will have to pay about 20–30 euros monthly. However, sometimes the owners of rented housing provide free Wi-Fi passwords, but such free Internet is often slow.

To ensure an acceptable standard of living in the country, you should come here with your business or intending to work remotely. Looking for a job locally is not a good idea.

Pros of immigration

Ecology and climate

Montenegro has a magnificent Mediterranean climate, the absence of long frosty winters, and the opportunity to enjoy summer, sun and sea all year round. The nature here is incredibly beautiful and varied; the landscapes everywhere are pleasing to the eye. Mountains, a clear sea, a stunning canyon near the Tara River, the amazing Lake Skadar, as well as many national parks and reserves, each more picturesque than the other - and all these natural resources are concentrated in the territory of such a small country.

Regarding the environmental situation, Montenegro ranks first among all European countries. There are not many industrial facilities in this country, and the population is mainly employed in tourism and agriculture. A small number of plants and factories, an abundance of flowering trees and shrubs, as well as a healing combination of mountain and sea air have allowed Montenegro to acquire the image of a clean tourist-ecological country.

Security level

Safety is an obvious plus that awaits you when emigrating to Montenegro. If you left something on a park bench or on the street, you can be sure that it will wait for you safe and sound. Car owners rarely equip their cars with alarms; they often leave the keys right in the car and the car doors unlocked. You can hardly see thick metal doors with multiple locks on buildings. Montenegrin streets are safe for walking at any time of the day or night.

The police in Montenegro are very polite and will never provoke anyone to break down or show intemperance. At the same time, being rude to the police is also highly discouraged; there is a penalty for this.

Hospitality of the population

In this small country, it is considered normal to visit each other with full plates of delicious homemade pastries. People do it just like that, for no reason. At first, it can be difficult for immigrants from Russia to accept such openness, but, of course, this feature of Montenegrins should be counted as an advantage of living in this country.

If you have proven yourself on the positive side, they begin to trust you. And to such an extent that the store can simply give you the right thing, and you will pay for it next time. Or you can pay in installments without any receipts or contracts. Everything is based purely on trust. People really bring money later, no one is deceiving anyone.

By the way, in Montenegro you can find shops open until late; This can be regarded as a plus for Russians who are accustomed to 24-hour supermarkets at home, while in most European countries after 17.00 – 19.00 hours almost all stores are already closed.

It is worth noting the attitude of Montenegrins towards children. Children are very loved in this country. They are not shushed here, they are not shouted at, they are not hit on the hands, this is unacceptable. If a child cries, adults try to cheer him up, give him something interesting or treat him. Having come to the store with the baby, parents can calmly make a choice of purchases, asking the seller to look after the heir. In general, the attitude towards children is very friendly, even, and respectful.

Cons of life

However, even such a paradise as Montenegro has its drawbacks. Various unexpected moments can spoil your impression and negatively affect your attitude towards her. Therefore, you should be prepared for the following features of life in this country.

Lack of EU membership

For some, the downside is the fact that the country is not part of the European Union, which means that to travel throughout the rest of Europe you will have to apply for a Schengen visa. At the same time, since 2010, Montenegro has been an official candidate for accession to the EU. But on the other hand, this is a plus, because with the state’s accession to the European Union, the laws for migrants will change and it will become more difficult to enter the country. Having moved to Montenegro now on easy terms, you can wait for accession to the EU while already living there.

Features of life and mentality

Montenegrin residential buildings do not have central heating (as is the case almost everywhere in Europe). Apartments and apartments are heated individually with heaters, fireplaces, or even wood. For a person accustomed to the Russian method of heating a home, this fact can become an unpleasant new reality.

A separate story is the mentality of Montenegrins. People who lived or are living there agree that in their way of thinking, the inhabitants of Montenegro are closer to the Caucasian mountaineers than to Europeans. On the one hand, this means cordiality and hospitality, and on the other... Local traditions can make life difficult for an immigrant.

For example, any agreements are very difficult. The word “tomorrow” means that what was planned will be completed in a week or two; if you were promised to do something next week, the likelihood of this project being implemented tends to zero.

It is common for a Montenegrin to be late for business negotiations; This is explained by the fact that on the way he may meet one, two, three of his neighbors or relatives with whom he simply needs to talk. Here this is a valid reason for being late.

Further: if the business meeting was successful (in your eyes) and the partners shook hands, this does not yet mean the beginning of fruitful cooperation. There may be as many more meetings as you want in the future, but the actual activity has not yet begun, just repeated gatherings in cafes over everyday conversations. You need to have a lot of patience to put up with these ceremonies (and you cannot avoid them), and not every Russian can do this.

Weather

One thing to keep in mind is that coastal areas have high humidity. In winter there is long rain, and in summer it can be hot and stuffy. Mold can form in apartments, which can be difficult to remove. Such natural features can cause discomfort to people who grew up in the middle of the continent and are accustomed to a continental climate.

Immigration is not a tourist trip, and no matter how fascinated you are by Montenegro during your vacation, when you move here for permanent residence, this country will certainly sparkle before your eyes with new facets. And not all of them will delight you. We must always remember this.

Russian migrants in Montenegro - who are they

What categories of Russian emigrants can be found in Montenegro? First of all, these are businessmen and investors who come to the country with their capital and business. A lot of Russians buy real estate and come to the country on short visits to spend their holidays. Apartments in newly built buildings are actively in demand. Many of these houses are so-called “Russian” because their owners are investors from Russia who are building high-rise housing primarily for Russian-speaking buyers. We can say that Russians of this category (not permanent residents) make up the majority of the population here.

A fairly significant percentage of Russians in Montenegro are wealthy pensioners and mothers with children. The former can be either on temporary vacation or as more or less permanent residents, and mothers with babies, as a rule, are sent by spouses from noisy, polluted domestic cities with a population of over a million people closer to the sea, sun, fruit and clean air.

As for Russians living here on a permanent basis, there are not so many of them. Montenegro is very favorable for freelancers, i.e. people who are able to provide themselves with work independently, without needing local vacancies and employers. Working via the Internet, you can focus equally on both Russia and Western Europe, Asia, both Americas, etc., which makes the freelancer independent of the Montenegrin economy.

People who make a living as freelancers pay minimal taxes in Montenegro.

Where is the best place for Russians to live?

Despite its miniature territory, the climate and landscapes of Montenegro are very diverse, which can make it difficult to choose a city and region to live in. Of course, the ideal option is to come for reconnaissance and personally inspect the most relevant settlements. But what to do if this is not possible? As you might expect, the Adriatic coast is the most popular among Russian settlers. It is for the sake of the transparent and incredibly beautiful sea, mild maritime climate and amazing scenery that most Russians come here. Let's take a look at some coastal cities.

Herceg Novi is a very colorful, picturesque city with a decent population by local standards of about 30,000 people, which has a pretty good infrastructure. But it is difficult to enjoy a beach holiday here: there are no comfortable sandy places for swimming; instead, the city offers its guests and residents concrete slabs. However, some people like it. This city is somewhat remote from other Montenegrin settlements, so someone may feel isolated here. Although, compared to Russian distances, 130 kilometers from Herceg Novi to Podgorica are mere trifles, and Budva is only 70 kilometers away. But considering that the roads go through the mountains and twist into bizarre serpentines, you need to be prepared for the fact that you will have to drive slowly and for a long time.

Budva is the most popular resort, attractive to both tourists and potential immigrants. Most of the Russian-speaking population of Montenegro is concentrated here. In this city there are schools accredited by the Russian Ministry of Education, which allows children studying there to receive a Russian certificate of education. There are kindergartens with Russian-speaking staff, as well as many other social institutions designed for Russians. Budva is easily accessible from almost any locality, which is facilitated by its convenient location almost in the middle of the Adriatic coast. Also, this city lives its own life at any time of the year, i.e. winter “extinction” does not threaten you here. In the summer, literally everything is in full swing with the influx of vacationers, which may not please everyone. It is also worth considering the fact that housing prices in Budva exceed the national average.

Bar is another very popular city among Russians who have settled in Montenegro. Its population is 45,000 people; there is excellent infrastructure, a port, a large number of Russians, kindergartens and schools with Russian-speaking staff. Other advantages are color, picturesqueness, good beaches, but at the same time a small number of tourists. You can take a ferry from here to Italy for a day or two.

Podgorica - if living by the sea is not your absolute goal, you can opt for the capital of the country. This is the most populated city in Montenegro - the number of inhabitants is 150,000. Apart from Podgorica, there are no universities or large shopping and entertainment centers anywhere else in the country. There is also only one modern cinema in Montenegro, and it is located right here. A plus is the low prices for housing when compared with coastal cities. And if you want the sea, you can get there in less than an hour by car or in just over an hour by bus.

If we talk about cities located in the northern region of the country, there are very few Russians permanently residing there, and for this reason there are no Russian-language schools, kindergartens, salons and other social infrastructure facilities.

Attitude towards Russian immigrants

Montenegrins are very hospitable and friendly people, and these qualities apply to all visitors, including those from Russia. The attitude towards Russian visitors depends on the visitors themselves.

Many of our compatriots complain that the attitude of locals towards Russians differs greatly depending on whether they are tourists or those who have arrived for permanent residence. Of course, the presence of this nuance cannot be denied. This is true. But are such claims justified?

If a person decides to settle in Montenegro, then he assumes certain responsibilities and obligations. This means that the language needs to be learned, it is necessary to integrate into society, culture and history are important to study and respect, and so on. Unfortunately, in any state there are a certain number of newcomers who do not want to assimilate.

In general, if you show the generally accepted rules of human mutual respect and interest in Montenegrin traditions, then you will never have to complain about the attitude of the Montenegrins.

Despite all the good nature of the local population, you need to remember that scammers who profit from ignorance of the language and local customs are everywhere. You shouldn’t draw conclusions about an entire country based on a few not very decent people.

Is there a Russian diaspora in Montenegro?

Opinions on this matter are contradictory. Of course, there is a Russian-speaking population in Montenegro, but can it be called a diaspora? This word usually means some kind of organized community, the presence of “Russian” restaurants, discos and other public places where representatives of this very diaspora regularly gather. This is the case in all other European and other countries, but in Montenegro a unique situation has developed.

Russians living in Montenegro on a permanent basis chose this country consciously and carefully, based on their personal criteria. This applies to both entrepreneurs and pensioners, and mothers with children. They are self-sufficient and do not need a large number of their compatriots, they often know two or three foreign languages ​​and are able to communicate without an interpreter, they have friends and partners among local residents, and they can organize meaningful cultural recreation for themselves. Life in Montenegro is calm, people are relaxed most of the time; Thanks to the hospitality of local residents, visitors feel comfortable, there is no feeling of being isolated from their homeland. The need for unification, clearly expressed in other countries, is minimized here. Perhaps this is the main reason for the absence of an organized Russian diaspora in Montenegro.

It is also worth considering that the majority of the Russian-speaking population in Montenegro are Russian property holders who come seasonally on vacation and do not reside permanently in the country; but there are much fewer permanent residents from Russia, which also does not contribute to the development of the diaspora.

So it would be most correct to say that the Russian diaspora in this country is in its infancy and at the moment the only thing that serves as a unifying factor for Russians who have settled in Montenegro is the Russian language.

Having returned from Montenegro on August 1, I still could not bring myself to take up the report. Probably because the impressions from this trip did not form a coherent picture, crumbling along the way and losing clear outlines. And even now, almost a month later, I cannot accurately formulate my feelings from this trip and from the country itself. But I'll try anyway. I won’t lie - I expected much more - from nature, from the sea with beaches, and from attractions. During the two weeks I spent in Budva, I didn’t make any bright discoveries for myself, nothing really caught my attention, and there weren’t any strong shocks that would make me gasp. Rather, Montenegro made a moderately pleasant impression on me, nothing more. Just a cute, small country with a homely and cozy atmosphere. Trying to always find positive aspects in everything first, I’ll start with the positive.

First of all, I liked that the country is very calm and absolutely safe. You can walk and drive everywhere without hindrance, there is a relaxed, homely atmosphere everywhere. Of course, I look at many things with completely different eyes and in this context I compared the calm Montenegro with the realities of life in South America and recalled the dangers that await tourists in countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Argentina. Here such moments were completely excluded, which I immediately appreciated. Cozy, homely and absolutely safe! Great advantage!

Very nice, friendly people, but not pushy, with dignity, they do everything in moderation. Almost all of the older generation speak Russian, the younger generation speaks English. Thus, there are no problems with communication. We lived in the Sentar villa, whose owners Marina and Michaud turned out to be very nice, pleasant people. They constantly invited us to the table, tried to help us with everything, and created a homely atmosphere.

And what beautiful people Montenegrins are, just a sight for sore eyes! Especially young people. Everyone is perfect - tall, slender, bright, thoroughbred! More than once I admired local girls and boys, receiving great aesthetic pleasure.

Montenegrin prices also pleased me. And for housing, and for food, and for transport, and for excursions. Very, very acceptable. We rented a small studio with a kitchenette and bathroom for 42 euros for two. This is during the high season, but in September prices drop by half. You can have a modest lunch for two for 10 euros, or a more varied meal for 15. There are also relatively expensive restaurants on the embankment - Yadran, Don Coda Nicolet, Tropico. The most expensive dishes are seafood, meat is at reasonable prices. Popular meat dishes are cevapchichi, pleskavica, and sacha meat. For my taste, Montenegrin cuisine overuses salt; many dishes are frankly over-salted. I liked the local fast food even more in the form of hamburgers, shawarma, pancakes and waffles. All this is sold everywhere in abundance. For 2-3 euros you can have a tasty snack. Of the local delicacies, I liked prosciutto, how could I live without it, and Njegushi, a spicy cheese.

Now about the excursion program. The prices for excursions are also very reasonable. On average, from 17 to 35 euros per person. Children are given a discount of a little more than 50%. We bought all the excursions on the promenade from Vladimir, the travel agency Gardashevich. Initially there were more plans, but on the spot I decided not to torment the child and not take much time away from the sea. Therefore, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cetinje and Mount Lovcen, Bar and other little things were ruthlessly thrown back. As a result, we went on only four excursions - along the Bay of Kotor, to the canyons, to the Ostrog monastery and to Dubrovnik. We went to St. Stephen on our own (it’s better to go in the morning and see both from above the road and from the water, completely different views)

Sveti Stefan island, view from above
Sveti Stefan island, view from the water

and to Kotor, where they made a difficult climb to the very top of the fortress.

Fortress in Kotor

The views of the Bay of Kotor from there are simply superb.

View of the Bay of Kotor from the fortress

It is very worth going there separately from the excursion and early in the morning, while there is still shade.

Returning to the topic of group excursions, we must pay tribute, everything was organized at a decent, decent level, the guides were competent, the buses were of average comfort. The price-quality ratio pleased and satisfied. Of all the organized excursions, my favorite was the trip to Dubrovnik. Cost - 30 euros per adult, 20 - per child. From this year, a Schengen or Croatian visa is required to travel to Dubrovnik. We took care of the visa issue in advance, so we were able to go to this wonderful city.

I’ll try to write about Dubrovnik separately. I give second place to a sea excursion along the Bay of Kotor.

Bay of Kotor

A pleasant boat trip along a beautiful bay with stops in various picturesque places. We visited Herceg Novi, Kotor, the island of the Virgin Mary on the reef opposite Perast and Zhannitsa beach.

Virgin Island on the reef
Perast

The cost of such an excursion is 23 and 15 euros. In general, I liked it, the only thing was that I wasn’t pleased with the mass participation, there were a lot of people on the boat, this spoiled the impression a little.

But the trip inland, to the canyons and lakes, did not make much of an impression on me.

Moraca River Canyon

The issue price is 35 and 20 euros. Pseudo-alpine Montenegrin landscapes could not be compared with either Swiss or Italian mountain views, not to mention the stunning pictures of Chilean Patagonia. Someone from the group said that these landscapes are more reminiscent of Transcarpathia, I don’t know, I haven’t been there, I can’t judge. But in any case, these are not the alpine landscapes loudly proclaimed by the guides. The canyons of the Tara and Moraca rivers, the Durmitor park with the Black Lake, the Djurdzhevich Bridge - all this left a very average impression. It's beautiful in places, but nothing more.

Tara River Canyon

In a word, it didn’t catch my attention. In addition, this excursion is quite tiring, from 6 in the morning until late in the evening.

The Ostrog Monastery hanging in the rocks, where the relics of St. Basil of Ostrog are kept, is certainly a picturesque and very special place for believers.

The only thing that didn’t please me was the huge queue, where in total we stood for almost two hours.

Public transport in general is quite well developed, especially the direction from Budva to Petrovac. Small Mediterane Express buses run along this route every 15 minutes. The fare is 1.5 euros; children are not charged. In the opposite direction to the beaches of Jaz, Trsteno and Ploce, buses run much less frequently, once every hour and a half, at 8, 9.30, 11.00, etc. The ticket costs 2 euros. This is the main inconvenience. Sometimes we were just too lazy to wait for the bus, so we took a taxi. A taxi to Jaz costs five to six euros, to the distant Ploce - eight. You have to bargain with taxi drivers; they often inflate prices.

About the beaches. We tried to visit as many beaches as possible to diversify our beach holidays and not sit on the same beach all the time. Of all the things we tried, I liked Jaz beach the most - it’s not far from Budva, and the bay is very beautiful and large, as a result of which the people are evenly distributed along the beach and there is no feeling of crowding.

Jaz beach

This factor is very important, because there are not just a lot of people on the beaches of the Budva Riviera in July-August, but a lot! I also liked the entrance to the sea on Yaz - small pebbles turning into sand, a river flowing into the sea, and picturesque hills around the beach. And the prices on Yaz are quite affordable - a set of two sunbeds with an umbrella costs 7 euros, on other beaches it’s more expensive.

Second place goes to Ploce Beach, the farthest from Budva towards Kotor.

Ploce Beach

A very picturesque beach in rocky coves with crystal clear water. The trick of Ploce is that there are several pools with sea water, but the entrance to the sea is inconvenient, there are large stones, you can only wear slippers. A set of sun loungers and an umbrella - 10 euros, you are strictly forbidden to bring and consume your own food, they watch like Cerberus.

I didn’t like the sandy beach of Trsteno, located between Jaz and Ploce at all.

Sandy beach of Trsteno

A very small bay, not much space, it feels like everyone is lying on top of each other. There are sunbeds on pontoons in the sea, which cost 15 euros, on the shore - 10. A very long entry into the sea, you walk and walk, and it’s shallow all the time.

The famous Mogren did not make much of an impression.

Mogren beach

It is acceptable only early in the morning, then people come rushing in, so by noon there is nowhere for an apple to fall. The water, compared to Jaz and Ploce, is downright dirty. One of the advantages of Mogren is a beautiful, postcard view of the Old Town and a sculpture of a gymnast on the way to it.

View of the Gymnastka and the Old Town of Budva from Mogren

I liked the city beach to the left of St. Stephen. There is a confusing gradation of price tags for sun loungers - from 15 to 30 euros, depending on the comfort and size of the umbrella, but this is not critical, you can always find a place in the shade between the umbrellas and lie on your towel for free. Small pebbles, easy entry into the sea, lots of fish, plus a magnificent view of St. Stephen itself. In addition, you can swim almost to its walls and swim around the island itself, admiring its houses and looking through the windows. This moment was very pleasant.

You can get to the beach of St. Nicholas Island by boat from the city beach of Budva, they run frequently, or you can take a sightseeing trip along the coast for five euros and land on the island on the way back. That's what we did. But the beach itself, although picturesque, with rocks right out of the water, was not very pleasant.

beach on the island of St. Nikola

The entry is inconvenient, there are huge cobblestones everywhere, only in slippers. The ban on my own food didn’t make me happy either. In general, we did not like this beach. To my surprise, the water in the sea in the second half of July was very cold, twenty degrees or a little higher. They say there is some kind of anomaly in the form of a cold current. This, of course, spoiled my impressions of the sea; I was not able to really enjoy swimming. Towards the end I even caught a cold. And in general, the rocky beaches of Budva did not particularly impress me; I expected more.

Now directly about Budva itself. I won’t write at length about this resort; I don’t want to describe its attractions for the hundred and fifty-first time. I'll just tell you about my impressions. In general, Budva left the impression of a fairly developed resort with all the necessary paraphernalia. The downside is that there is a crowd of people in the high season, you can hear Russian speech everywhere, you get the feeling that you are somewhere in Alushta or Gelendzhik. Although, personally, the dominance of my compatriots did not bother me too much, and sometimes it was even a joy, after almost a year in a foreign land. Budva is often criticized for being crowded, noisy, and party-like, but this didn’t bother us; we rather liked that we were not separated from civilization. And there is a lot of entertainment for children there - we visited the rides, trampolines, etc. several times.

I also liked the Old Town, it was especially nice to walk there at sunset.

Budva - Old Town

From the top there are beautiful views of the island of St. Nicholas

View of the island of St. Nicholas

and Mogren beaches. And in the lower old town there is something to see, where to wander, and something to admire. There are many cozy, authentic corners and courtyards.

Cozy corners of Old Budva

So, I won’t criticize Budva. A party place, and this should be kept in mind when choosing a vacation spot. For those who like a quiet, relaxing holiday, it is not at all suitable.

These are my impressions of Montenegro, quite moderate, without enthusiasm, but also without dissatisfaction. A small, cozy country, but, of course, not in the first tourist category. There are, of course, things to see and places to go, but I personally didn’t have any discoveries or shocks.

We lived here for almost a year, but the summer season of 2015 was an unpleasant surprise. This is not the everyday joy of the sun and sea, but practically a struggle for survival)) I’ll tell you everything in detail, without hiding anything, and I’ll start with the advantages of this summer, and in general just with the advantages of life in this beautiful country.

Pros of Montenegro:

Visa regime.

Russians still enjoy fairly humane and comfortable conditions here. 30 days without a visa, then travel to another country, and again 30 days. That is, for now you can live here completely without problems, traveling to Bosnia or Albania once a month.

Inexpensive food prices.

The products here cost quite reasonable money and are very pleased with their quality, because... do not have any additives or impurities and are usually completely natural. Average prices for meat are 3 euros per kg, milk - 60 cents per liter, bread - 30 cents per loaf.

Inexpensive prices for rental housing

You can find an apartment here from 100 euros and above, depending on its class and size. The average price for comfortable housing is 250 euros per month, subject to long-term stay.

Clean air and beautiful nature

Excellent, clean air and a rich heritage of many cultures, which entails incredible pleasure from traveling around the country and visiting the many attractions. There are places where nature is completely untouched by man - this can mainly be seen in the north of the country.

Relatively safe.

Walking the streets at night is not scary, even the myriad of stray dogs are kind-hearted and I have not heard of cases of attacks on people. A murder here is an event of national scale, the whole country discusses it for several weeks, and this usually happens due to clashes between local criminal gangs, and has nothing to do with tourists.

Good-natured people.

If you met one of the locals, or helped, then they will drag you home, feed you, give you homemade wine and brandy, and give you a full bag of fruit from the garden for the journey. It is almost impossible to avoid this, and if you have such neighbors, you will already be pumped up with brandy and wine from early morning.

Cons of Montenegro:

Electricity.

As soon as you arrive, you see primus stoves and gas cylinders in every store, and huge generators near the stores. This is no accident. There may be no light here for several hours a day or more. Sometimes there are periods when the lights are not turned off for several months - but this happens in winter and out of season. During the season, from June to September, the light disappears here several times a week for a couple of hours or even a day. At the same time, the Internet and even mobile Internet, and in some cases mobile communications, disappear. If you have a multi-storey building with an elevator and a water pump, then in the end you will not have an elevator and water all this time and your happiness if at this time you do not cry for help in Russian between the 6th and 7th floors, which is not widely spoken here .

Water.

With the beginning of the season, periodic water shutdowns begin. It is used for irrigation, beach showers and other needs, and all the water that was at your disposal during the off-season disappears right before your eyes. At night you can still wash yourself, get water for tea and soup, fill jars with water to flush the toilet during the day, but at other times you will be deprived of this opportunity. If you live in the private sector, then all the water during the day will be spent on irrigation, and in the city - on beaches and washing tourists after their vacation. If you are going on vacation, then problems with electricity and water will affect you in the same way as ordinary residents - none of the landlords spend money on generators and water tanks, they live one day at a time and do not think about the future. Good hotels may have backup power and water tanks, so it makes sense to find out in advance to avoid ruining your vacation.

Traffic jams.

With the beginning of the season, for some unknown reasons, simply unreal traffic jams form here. You can drive 40 kilometers from Bar to Budva for four hours, or you can stand in the Sozino tunnel all day on the way to Podgorica - depending on your luck or bad luck. We can definitely say that during the season it is better not to use a car and leave the house only when you run out of food.

Theft.

With the season comes theft. This includes theft of wallets on the beach and break-ins of apartments - both tourists and locals. For some reason, many people take their passports with them to the beach - they are stolen along with other documents and money and are not returned, so as not to get caught. You can leave Chg without documents only through the embassy and there are a lot of difficulties. So keep your documents and everything important in your hotel rooms - that's where the least amount of theft occurs. They usually steal from private houses and sometimes from apartments. But in any case, these cases cannot be compared with the fact that you go to the beach and leave your bag there unattended with docks and money for 2 hours while you bask in the sea.

Visa regime

White cardboard is what they call the means of registering tourists who do not have a residence permit. The fee for it is from 70 cents per day and above for each adult tourist. Per month this works out to about 22 euros per month per person in tourist tax on the coast. When the season begins, you will stand in the heat for an hour or two under the scorching sun to pay it and get yourself into the database (to do this, stock up on an agreement to purchase a camp (an apartment rental agreement) and a copy of the personal card of the owner of the camp (a copy of the identity card of the apartment owner ), at least for the first time)

Rent a Car.

You won’t find a more expensive and pointless car rental in the summer anywhere in Europe. ALL cars are without insurance (unless, of course, you want to use traditional rental offices, from which you can expect no less dirty tricks), with a deposit of 200-300 euros. And the price per day is from 30 euros and above. Take photographs of the entire car in front of the owner, climb under the bottom and into the trunk - not a single little thing should escape your gaze.

Internet.

Usually, the fastest Internet here is coaxial, with a speed of 16-32 Mbit/s. Moreover, you will also pay for television - 10 euros, even if you don’t use it. Total - 30 euros for 16 Mbit/s, if the connection is lost every week a couple of times for several hours or days. I have not yet encountered a more unstable Internet in any country in the world, and no recalculation is made. Well, either you need to have an excellent knowledge of Serbian in order to organize all this)) For tourists, most likely, this will not be a problem, but the connection is quite poor and unstable throughout the country.

Shops, queues

From the advantages, the disadvantages automatically follow - they will perfectly cut half a kilo of ham and cheese for you, but the one who is behind you will wait. And even in large retail chains there is usually only one seller, and you can wait 10-40 minutes just to buy cheese or sausage. There is no time in large stores when there are no people there - everyone shops there, including small businesses, cafes and small restaurants. After a 40-minute line for cheese and ham and a 20-minute line for pork, you're sure to wait another 20 minutes at the checkout. Or you can buy food in local markets at one and a half times the price, but there are no queues there due to the high prices. As an option, you can buy already chopped and packaged foods or eat semi-finished products, but you must agree that this is not a way out of the situation.

Inadequacy of many drivers

Frankly speaking, here and during the rest of the year they don’t particularly follow traffic rules, but with the arrival of summer, heat and traffic jams, everyone just starts pretending that they are alone on the road - dangerous overtaking by driving into oncoming traffic in front of a convoy of cars, turning from the right lane to the left , driving from the secondary to the main one without even looking around. People are caught driving drunk. I won’t say exactly how many ppm are allowed in Montenegro and whether they are allowed at all, but a couple of beers here is not a reason to give up your car. The favorite pastime of locals is to meet two cars in a narrow alley window-to-window and leisurely discuss current news for 10 minutes, creating inconvenience and traffic jams. However, everyone understands and doesn’t even honk - this is the norm here, just like parking in the second row in the middle of the road if there is a normal parking lot 20 meters ahead, blocking 3 cars, and leaving on business.

Stray dogs.

There are an insane number of them, almost like in Sri Lanka, but here they are quite sweet and good-natured, even gathering in flocks in the spring. All the same, this is unsanitary and a possible danger, but this problem is not being solved at the state level, and the few volunteers simply do not have time to collect dogs from the streets before a new litter appears. At night they usually hold a roll call, and if they drive some unwary cat under the car, you will definitely not fall asleep until the morning.

Beach pollution

In July, some beaches located in small coves begin to bloom quite naturally, but this is not such a problem. The main problem is the release of garbage from yachts and coastal cafes. Many beaches have become unsuitable for comfortable swimming due to waste of food, hygiene products and other abominations that are in the water.

I will consider the most popular beaches in terms of the quality of the beach itself and swimming.

Velika Plaza.

The longest beach in Montenegro, it is divided into many small sections, each with its own name - Coco Beach, Noki Beach and others. Closer to mid-July, there is a huge crowd of people on the beach, attractions appear: kite surfing, banana, jet skis, for which purpose a small piece is fenced off with buoys near each beach, in which only tourists can swim. The rest of the endless expanses of the sea are reserved for entertainment, however, this is not enough for jet skiers, and in order to move to another part of the beach, they can maneuver between swimmers near the shore without any problems.

The beaches themselves are cleaned by workers, there are garbage bins, and the sea is not that dirty, except for the suspension of sand. So, apart from the danger from jet skis, I don’t see any problems with visiting this place. In addition, towards evening they no longer charge money for sunbeds, and you can enjoy all the benefits of the beaches completely free of charge. By the way, keep in mind: after lunch the wind picks up there and decent waves begin, which is why this place is chosen by all sorts of surfers.

Swim Horizon.

One of the most popular and cozy beaches near Budva. A sandy cove, an inexpensive restaurant with delicious pizza, there is a place under the treetops to lie down for free (take mattresses or travel rugs with you) - besides, there is excellent shade and it is very cozy. In mid-July the water blooms, but only near the shore. You can walk around the bay and go down the stairs straight into the water towards the end of the bay - it is always clean and beautiful. Take a mask and snorkel - there are a lot of fish and interesting bends in the water in the water. The water is practically not littered; apparently, they promptly remove debris that could have been blown into the water by the wind. Ships and yachts do not sail there, so there is no one to dump garbage. An excellent place with cheap parking (3 euros for the whole day with the ability to leave and enter with a receipt at any time).

Ploche.

Stunning beach, also not far from Budva. Free parking, three swimming pools from the smallest “paddling pool” for children to quite impressive in size with a depth of 2 meters, there is also a pool bar with foam and charming multi-level “mountains”, on which there are also several sun loungers - they are fenced and you You will be basking in the sun almost alone. The sea is clean, but the entrance to it is small pebbles, and the beach-mountain area is entirely made of polished stone and concrete.

During the day it gets hot and you can no longer go there without slippers. Perhaps the best accessible beach in the entire country. But here, too, there is a fly in the ointment - showers and toilets on the beach itself are paid, and salty sea water flows in the accessible taps. For those on a budget, I’ll tell you a secret: there are free showers and toilets upstairs, in the parking lot.

Bar. Kralevska plaza.

City beach of Bar. Rocky approach, small and large pebbles mixed. There are paid and free areas, it is quite dirty, including in the water. Among the advantages is an excellent embankment, where you can simply relax on the grass in the shade of trees and order ice cream or a glass of water at a nearby cafe.

Chan.

It is located a little further from Sutomore, towards Budva. It’s a fairly cozy place, hidden on three sides by mountains, and not crowded, due to the fact that there is not a single hotel on the shore, and there are not so many private apartments in the area. There are cafes and eateries on the embankment, and right next to the beach there is a city bus stop that will take you directly to Bar. The beach is clean, the water is also quite acceptable for swimming. A cloudy foam appears from time to time, but its origin and health hazards are not clear. I can say for sure that vacationers are not afraid of it and do not crawl out of the water.

Sutomore.

A small resort town near Bar, the curse of everyone living in it and nearby due to the huge number of unregulated pedestrian crossings, causing some kind of unreal traffic jams, comparable to traffic jams on the third transport on Monday evening after a snowfall. There is a fairly large city beach, quite dirty, and there are smaller beaches just outside the village, which are cleaner. A distinctive feature of Sutomore is loud music, crowds of people and unimaginable traffic collapse. Unfortunately, the road through this place is the only link between Ulcinj and Bar with the rest of civilization. We stopped resting there immediately after we swam from the buoys to the shore in the slop of food and personal hygiene products that someone had dumped. Although before the season it was the cleanest and nicest place, I think by October it will be like that again.

Kolardovo.

Beach behind the airport in Tivat. A small, cute place, quite secluded from civilization, quiet and without pretense of coolness. Its main advantage is calm water and the sight of planes taking off, flying literally a couple of hundred meters overhead. This already applies to the Bay of Kotor, so you won’t get waves there, but you can while away a couple of hours before departure. During the high season, it can be a very long drive to the airport from any city; traffic jams are possible everywhere, so the best option is to arrive in advance, about three hours in advance, and get to the beach. There is also a shower there, completely free.

Budva. Mogren beach.

One of the few places in Budva where tourists simply make a pilgrimage, which means there are a lot of people and little comfort. The beach is small pebbles that dig into your feet painfully, so don’t forget your slippers. Most cases of robberies of tourists took place on the Budva beaches, so do not take anything valuable with you, especially passports - believe me, they will definitely be safer at the hotel. In general, the most you can take with you for a walk around the city and to the beach is money for sunbeds, cocktails and dinner. No cards - 99% of restaurants on the shore do not accept them anyway, due to the completely inhumane conditions of owning a cashless payment terminal.

Sveti Stefan.

There are two beaches near this magnificent island - left and right. On the left there are quite humane prices for sunbeds, plus there is a free coastal area where you can lay out a blanket and lie in the sun without paying anyone anything, but the beach in the photo is on the right, it belongs to the infrastructure of the island and entry costs 75 euros! True, even for this money you won’t find sand there - only small pebbles.

Airplane Moscow - Rome. Yesterday we got married. This is our honeymoon and our first flight to Europe together. We have been waiting for this moment for a very long time. Summer, freedom, pizza, wine and just the two of us. No fuss, preparation, worry, and even this work. Goodbye Groundhog Day!

We walk along narrow streets, go on excursions to castles, visit numerous squares and monuments, admire the architecture, buy souvenirs, have lunch in a cafe, and in the evenings we eat pizza by the fountain while drinking wine. We are happier than ever. There is no desire to return to my homeland. But…

It's been a fabulous week. Again, life, work, bustle, traffic jams and the ubiquitous everyday dullness. There is nowhere as gray as in Moscow. It was then that the idea of ​​leaving the country arose in us. There were many reasons. This is a lack of confidence in the future (more precisely, the confidence that it will be like today), and everyday incessant rudeness from people around you who are unfamiliar to you (as they say - dullness and brutalization of the people), and the lack of proper medicine and education (how to give birth to children we did not understand), and the inaction of the state. institutions, and the dominance of migrants, traffic jams, fools and roads, zero service in everything, and most importantly - this is the government and all these games in politics. It’s impossible to watch TV; there’s constant insanity and battles between left and right on the Internet. I was sick of it all. Fuel was added to the fire every day. All this depressed us and pushed us to action. We went wild and also hated all the people around us. It was impossible to take this calmly. There was no point in changing anything in such a country or waiting for better times. There is only one life, and I didn’t want to spend it on something so real. In any case, we understood that things definitely couldn’t get worse. The only question that remained was... where?

After the new year 2013 we went on another long-awaited vacation. While everyone is suffering from -20, we will bask in the sun on the beautiful island of Phuket. In fact, it was reconnaissance. We went to Thailand to find out what kind of country it is - so distant and mysterious. Moreover, you can easily migrate to it without unnecessary hassles with documents.

But I won’t bore you with the details of the vacation. In the end, we abandoned this idea because it is very dirty, there are rats and cockroaches running around at night, and there are a huge number of selected Russian tourists. A 3rd world country is not our option. Plus it’s very far and a bit expensive for sudden flights in “what if something happens.”

So February, cold and Moscow again. After this trip, we were once again convinced that we need to migrate to Europe. And civilization in all its manifestations, and people have the same mentality that we need, and our relatives seem to be close at hand.

We spent all our free time on the Internet. We were looking for how and where to leave. Yes, so that there is a sea and you can get there by car. Italy remained a dream. It probably remains somewhere deep in her soul even now. But that's not the point. Your whole life is still ahead. I’ll say right away that moving to Italy is expensive. Expensive and very difficult in terms of obtaining a work visa. Moreover, without knowledge of the language.

Unexpectedly, the wife found an article about how the family moved to Montenegro. It was like the sound of "BINGO" in the slot machines. We began to eagerly study all the information about this wonderful country. We began to dream about how we would go, how we would live at sea, what we would do. We even downloaded audio lessons of the Serbian language. We calculated all possible options, weighed all the pros and cons. I even had to change jobs in search of a better salary.

We saved money for six months. We saved money on literally everything. They spared neither themselves nor their strength. And now, six months later, we quit our jobs. You can't imagine what happiness this is. You are a simple office plankton and here you are free.

No one knew about our plans until recently. It was our little secret. They were afraid to jinx it and miss the dream. My parents took this news with difficulty, of course, but it was too late to dissuade us. The mechanism has started.

Preparation

The route was laid out as follows: Moscow - Bryansk - Kyiv - Zhitomir - Chernivtsi - Suceava - Deva (Hunedoara) - Belgrade - Belo Pole - Tivat. Total almost 3000 km. We decided to take our time and extended the trip over 5 days. To travel through the territory of Romania, we received a tourist visa for 2 weeks in advance at the embassy.

I must say that we migrated along with our pet. This is our dog. Therefore, you can’t just break away and go. It was necessary to prepare documents for him, and this is a completely different story.

Firstly, our state, apparently, is making every effort to ensure that you never reveal the mystery of collecting documents. We looked through a bunch of forums and eventually glued the entire action plan together. First, we had our dog microchipped. This is the most important thing and the first thing to start with.

The second point is to get an annual rabies vaccination at least a month in advance. Then, two weeks before the trip, you need to come to the state regional veterinary hospital and get tested for worms. And then call and find out the test results. If everything is fine, then the day before the trip we go again to the district veterinarian, where we receive a certificate in Form No. 1. At the same time, the veterinarian will put stamps on your dog’s passport about treatment for ticks, and so on. And that's not it. Now we need to exchange this certificate for an international one. We did this at Sheremetyevo Airport, Terminal B. Since we laid out a route through Romania, and it is part of the EU, we also need a certificate for EU countries. They did it at the veterinarian's office at the airport. Well, that seems to be all. Our faithful dog is ready for the journey. Let me note that we were lucky with the dog. We taught him to ride in the car. And he didn't cause much trouble. He slept peacefully in the back seat, sometimes asking to go for a walk.

And so all the documents are collected, the car is fully loaded. Our dog sits faithfully on the bedding bags in the back seat, the navigator is set. Let's hit the road.

On the roads of Russia and Ukraine

As soon as we entered the Kaluga region, a miracle happened: the clouds and smog cleared, a blue sky appeared, and we saw the sun. It was as if everything around us was rejoicing along with us. But there are the first 300 km ahead. and the first stop is Bryansk, where my parents live. We wanted to say goodbye to them, so to speak, and at the same time sort through our suitcase, because we didn’t need some of our things with us, and the car sagged a lot, and the “wonderful” Kiev highway could ruin the first days of the trip.

The road along the Kyiv highway is exactly 50 percent good. And all these 50 percent lie before the turn to Kaluga. What follows is quiet horror. At the entrance to the Bryansk region, there are road repairs everywhere, traffic lights and one-way traffic on potholes. This takes quite a bit of time. Somehow we arrived to my parents. In the evening we even managed to get rid of one bag of things. Already good.

2nd day. We left around 10 am. We hoped to quickly cross the border, but that was not the case. Troebortnoye - Bachevsk - we stand 3 hours before the checkpoint on the Russian border. What's most surprising is that no one cares about our dog. They didn’t ask for her passport or certificate at all. It even became offensive. After all, they put so much effort into collecting documents.

We crossed the Ukrainian border quickly because the border guard offered to give him a bribe (quote: “So that it doesn’t cost you and doesn’t hurt us”) for filling out some kind of declaration. We put 1000 rubles in our passport. (If only we could get out of here as quickly as possible, we’ve wasted so much time) and five minutes later we were already moving towards the independence capital - Kyiv.

The road was gorgeous. Sun was shining. At some point they thought that this was Europe. The euphoria ended quickly when we turned onto the turn towards Kyiv and potholes began. This whole nightmare was framed by pitch darkness and the absence of lights. You can’t even say that you are entering the capital. Not Moscow for sure. And then a valiant traffic police officer stopped us, looked at the documents, apparently didn’t find anything to complain about, and let us go. They were surprised that he didn’t ask for money, the numbers were Moscow, and you could always come up with a reason. In Kyiv we booked a hotel for one night, when we got there it was almost 10 o'clock in the evening. Thanks to the capital's traffic jams. The room was luxurious, even with a jacuzzi and only 455 hryvnia per night. We fell asleep exhausted - we have to wake up early tomorrow.

3rd day. In the morning we realized that we needed to exchange rubles for hryvnia and fill the tank. While we were waiting for banks to open and exchange rates to be set, we lost a couple of hours and only left Kyiv at 11. Immediately the traffic police inspector stopped us, well, we think, again... to our surprise, he just asked us to wipe down the license plates and wished us a safe journey. Let's move on...

The road to Zhitomir is laid out beautifully. If the cars had wings, they would fly up, but the rest... I don’t know what to call it, because this is not a road at all... what the hell, honestly. A special “thank you” to our Navitel navigator, I would like to rip their hands off for such navigation. A couple of times he took us to some villages without roads, we thought we’d stay there. After winding around for an hour and a half in the Khmelnitsky area, we again drove out onto something like a highway. I still can’t understand which European Union they want to join with a complete lack of communication between cities. And again pitch darkness and off-road conditions. There are no flashlights, we want to sleep, we have no strength anymore, we look out for potholes on the road. Oncoming trucks are blinding, in general, we are tired of driving around Ukraine. At a speed of 60-70 km/h we approached the Ukraine-Romania border. It’s almost eight in the evening and the shift change is about to begin. Ukrainian customs officers were the first to notice our dog and asked us to put a stamp with permission to export the animal at the veterinary office. All this took about 10 minutes, and to the jokes of the border guards about expensive gas for Ukraine, we approached Romania.

For Romania and Serbia

We crossed the border into Romania without any problems. But it’s already dark and we need to quickly go to the hotel in Suceava. First of all, we were happy about the roads and the lighting in places - civilization heard us! I was especially pleased with the culture on the road - they see you in the distance and turn off the high beams. It should be noted that after nine in the evening the city seemed to die out. There is no one on the streets. Here Count Dracula and all the horror stories about vampires come to mind. We slowly drove to Suceava, looking closely at the road out of habit to see if there were any potholes? No, thank God. The navigator somehow brought us to the hotel, we checked into our room and we could relax.

4th day. After a trip to Ukraine, we realized that, most likely, we would not have time to get to Belgrade before dark, and we didn’t really want to travel in the dark, so we booked rooms in Hunedoara and Bela Pole (Montenegro), and wrote to all other hotels that we would be delayed two days. Now we can take our time and look around.

The morning began with another currency exchange. The Romanian leu is something. I have never held such beautiful and pleasant-to-touch money. In general, Romania gave us pleasant emotions. I don't even know how to describe it. Everything is so beautifully built, painted, well-maintained, and it’s clear that people are trying for themselves. For the first time we drove through a railway crossing without noticing it; for a Russian person, the rails are level with the asphalt - nonsense. Even the patches blend in with the old road and are not felt. May God grant such luxurious roads to everyone - this is a fairy tale after the Russian-Ukrainian potholes.

I also advise everyone to forget the stereotypes about gypsies, dirt and poverty - yes, there are carts with horses, but gypsies as such have not been seen. On Romanian roads there are markings with special notches, and when we drove onto a solid wheel, there was noise in the cabin. So much for Europe, abroad.

It was starting to get dark earlier. In one of the cities there was an accident on the highway, and traffic was blocked, so the traffic jam lasted for 3 hours. Then a thick fog fell on the road, such that even markings were not visible two meters away. The fog lights didn't help. You can't see oncoming cars either. We had to drive 10-15 km/h until we passed the foggy area. Thus, at almost ten in the evening we arrived in Hunedoara, and then a miracle happened. A huge, luxurious 19th century room awaited us. High ceilings, a round room, massive entrance doors - just like in a castle. A good end to the day.

Day 5 greeted us with morning fog. We were moving to the border with Serbia. Belgrade is ahead. On the way we again enjoyed the beauty of Romania. Plowed gardens, trimmed bushes and trees, windmills and ancient houses. And somehow imperceptibly the navigator led us to the border. Here we were asked for the first time where we were going and why so many things. They explained that we were heading to Montenegro for the winter, and these were all personal belongings. Serbia also greeted us very cordially and at ease.

In the first city we exchanged euros for local currency and refueled. Soon we reached Belgrade. As it turned out, we booked a room in some football fan hotel, which could not be said from the photo on the booking page. The room was cold, dirty, there were empty beer bottles under the sink, the light in the bathroom was dim, it was smoky, and there was only one barely burning lamp in the entire room, in a word, it looked like a hangout from American films. I didn’t have the strength to go look for something else, we found good wi-fi and okay, by the way, we paid 25 euros plus tax for the room. We didn’t like Belgrade as we saw it at all - disgust for the whole country immediately appeared, but the next day it disappeared when we saw a different, mountainous Serbia.

6th day. We woke up at 6 am and ran away from this hotel and this city. A couple of hours later we were already winding through the mountains with our mouths wide open from the beauty: the mountain river Lim, the huge Zlatar Lake with clear water, sandwiched between rocky mountains, in the midst of this beauty there are small cities, mining factories, quarries.

Montenegro

In this delighted state, we approached Montenegro. Crossing both borders was faster than ordering breakfast in a makavto. We didn't even get out of the car. Having received the coveted stamps in our passports with the MNE sign, we rushed to the hotel, which is located near the border in White Field.

I'll say a few words about gasoline. For 1400 rub. we filled a full tank (42-45l) with 95+ gasoline. This is enough for 500 km. In Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, we filled the 95 with €60 (€1.35 - liter) full tank and this is enough for more than 600 km. This is the difference: gasoline is almost 2 times more expensive, but you will only travel 20 percent more. Before leaving, we read reviews that gasoline is expensive, but it lasts twice as long - that’s all fairy tales.

There was a room waiting for us at the hotel for €50 - they shushed us, after Belgrade we need to relieve stress. After walking around the town and eating a huge pizza, we passed out in our room until the morning.

7th day. This is the smell of freedom. The freshness of the mountains and invigorating coffee give you strength for the last forced march. The sea and the unknown lie ahead. We drove slowly as usual. And you can’t really drive in the mountains. It takes habit and experience. So we got to the capital of Montenegro - Podgorica. A city on a plain surrounded by mountains. The city is large, bustling like all capitals. Behind him are again mountains, mountains and mountains. We climbed to the very top and rode in the cloud. Unreal sensations, like nothing like that, but the fog around you is not fog at all, but a cloud.

And here it is, the long-awaited sea, shining and shimmering in the sun. Then the road goes along the coast.

We arrive at our hotel in Tivat. To begin with, we have difficulty finding it using the navigator coordinates, since there is simply no address. Well, welcome.

Here we planned to stay for a week and start looking for a lawyer to prepare documents and permanent residence. The kind hosts show us the apartment and offer us a drink of rakia. And everything would have been fine, but the room was small, cold and there was wi-fi on the street on the first floor, and we were on the 3rd. The hostess assures that in 15 minutes she will “tweak” something and everything will work for us, 2 hours pass - zero result, she says that her son will come now and will also “tweak” something. And so the night passed...

8th day. In the morning we understand that we won’t live like this for a week, and it’s not clear how to solve migration issues without the Internet. We have to get out, fortunately we didn’t pay for the entire stay. We quickly called a lawyer who was in Herceg Novi. We agreed to meet. We cannot delay, we have 30 days to complete the documents, otherwise we will have to leave the country and enter again to extend our stay for another 30 days. Having folded our things and left the money for the night on the table, we hit the road. The road is again along the sea, through the entire Boka - Kotor Bay.

An hour later we arrived in Herceg Novi. We entered into an agreement to register a company and prepare documents to obtain a Boravka (work visa for a year) for me and my wife. They paid €950 for everything at once.

Parking in Herceg Novi is paid. In the center an hour costs 60 euro cents. To pay, we bought a parking slip (you can also pay via SMS, but you need a local SIM card), filled it out and put it under the windshield. Upon returning an hour later, a parking attendant was waiting for us, who said that the form was filled out incorrectly and charged us a fine of €5, but we remembered it for the rest of our lives.

We are lucky with hotels every now and then, so we got a wonderful room for the same 25 euros per night. By the way, the lawyer introduced us to a realtor who promised to find housing, and in the evening we went to look at the first version of the apartment. We liked it, it was a 3-room apartment with a full kitchen and a huge balcony overlooking the sea, but without the Internet. Looking ahead, I will say that now we live here, but at that moment we were not ready to move in right away, because the hotel was paid for a week in advance.

We settle in place

The next day we met with a lawyer and went to a notary to certify documents for the future company. After that, we walked around the city a lot, looked around, studied the area. So a week passed, after which we moved into a 3-room apartment and the adventures began.

The whole day after we moved in, we scrubbed the apartment, unloaded things, put everything in its place, even washed the refrigerator - we settled in. On the first night there was a strong storm, pouring rain, we listened to the house and could not sleep peacefully. In the morning we discovered a leak under the balcony door in the bedroom. It turned out that it did not fit tightly to the frame. There is no central heating in Montenegro and we warmed ourselves with a heater all night. We also didn’t know that the water heater in the apartment should always be turned on and in the morning we had to wait 3 hours for the boiler to heat the water. Plus, the drain in the kitchen was clogged. All this unsettled us, and we went to our realtor to ask him to find us more options.

We expected an amount of €250 without paying for electricity and water. And plus we have a dog. For this money we were given 3 more options. We didn’t like any of them and through joint efforts a decision was made - to eliminate the shortcomings in our apartment, install Internet and pay 250 euros per month, plus Internet €20, and utilities (electricity and water).

In the meantime, difficulties arose with registering a company, the department in Podgorica changed, and with it the rules for processing documents and the people who accept these documents. The deadlines dragged on, and the thirty days were coming to an end. There is nothing left to do but go to Bosnia and Herzegovina for one day.

They decided not to take the dog, since the trip took a maximum of 6 hours. From Herceg Novi to Trebinje it is about an hour's drive including crossing the border. Here in the mountains we saw snow for the first time. The tops of the mountains prepared for the New Year. We decided to ride a little further and go to Lake Bilechko. A lake around the mountains with crystal clear water, plus calmness and not a single soul within a radius of one kilometer. We haven't experienced this for a long time. Here you can think about the eternal, meditate, or just eat the pomegranate that grows along the road to the lake. Indescribable beauty, indescribable silence.

We returned to Trebinje. We walked around the city. It’s a very cozy town, we even found a couple of places for decent shopping. We went to the local supermarket and bought some treats for the dog and a bottle of Bosnian wine. So to speak, foreign gifts. It's time to go back.

Along the way we stopped a couple more times and took pictures. Very beautiful views. We drove back into Montenegro without any problems, without even getting out of the car. Now we definitely need to be on time with the paperwork. Thirty days left again.

The next morning we met with the legal assistant and went to submit documents to the police. Everything went well, I was photographed, electronic fingerprints were taken and my signature was scanned. Then we went to an electronics store, we decided to buy a fan heater because the heater uses a lot of electricity and we spent €28. There are a lot of fishermen on the piers in Herceg Novi. They went to a fishing store to find out how much a good fishing rod and tackle cost, as it turned out it was around €50. It’s probably worth going further into prices and destroying the rosy idea of ​​cheap life in Montenegro. Do not forget that at the time of November - December 2013, the euro in Russia costs about 45 rubles.

So, products in supermarkets:

• Chicken carcass 1.5 kg - €4.5;
• Pasta - 0.70;
• A dozen eggs - 1.20;
• Ketchup - 1
• 200g. ground coffee - €1.40;
• Washing powder - €4-5 (3kg);
• Shampoo Gliss Kur - €2.65;
• Milk - €0.70;
• Yogurts - up to €0.50;
• Bananas 1kg - €1;
• Pomegranate 1kg - €1.70;
• Salt 0.5kg - €0.30;
• Rice - €1;
• Large pack of chips - €1.49;
• Rexona deodorant for men - €2.85;
• Vegetables in the greengrocer's shop in kg:
• Tomatoes - €1;
• Potatoes - €0.70;
• Tangerines - €0.70;
• Salad - €1;
• Bread in the bakery - from €0.40 to €0.80.

Of course, prices vary from store to store and from city to city. But the overall picture is that we spend almost the same as in Moscow. At the same time, we are not regulars at cafes; we often cook at home. They write that there is a lot of cheap wine in Montenegro. This is true, but with one big BUT... The fact is that it is cheap because it is swill - young wine diluted with alcohol, which gives you a headache and is sold in liter bottles with a beer cap. This wine costs anywhere from €1 to €2-3 per bottle. Good wine costs from €8-10 for a standard 0.75l bottle. So there is no difference with Moscow.

Yesterday we paid our first electricity bill. Let me remind you that the apartment has a refrigerator, air conditioning, boiler, electric stove with oven, heater (works at night), fan heater, light bulbs (luckily we changed them all to energy-saving ones for 3 euros each), as well as a wi-fi router, two laptops and phones charged once a day. The total bill was 65 euros for the first month. According to rumors, water will cost around 10 euros. I'll tell you about the Internet. For 22 euros per month we have an 8 megabit channel with a return of 1 megabit. There is enough on Skype, YouTube and torrents.

After 8 days I received a Borawak, and I immediately submitted documents for my wife’s Borawak. On the same day, we opened a bank account for the company and met with an accountant. As they said, 130 euros per month will be spent on taxes and 70 euros on the accountant’s salary.

Another week has passed. We have been in Montenegro for almost 2 months. Finally got a borawak for my wife and decided to celebrate this event. For us, the best holiday is shopping, but not in terms of clothes, we love buying all sorts of little things for the home. We went to shopping centers that are located between three cities: Budva, Kotor and Tivat. To our surprise, civilization had just arrived here; we were pleased with New Year’s discounts and an excellent assortment of household goods. In the evening we already decorated the Christmas tree. Finally, we feel at home and comfort has been created.

Now we intend to continue to equip our housing; it would not hurt to learn the language, although it is similar to Russian, but still very often we cannot understand anything from what the locals tell us. I really don’t want to work yet, I haven’t yet rested from the hustle and bustle of my life. In any case, now we can really sum it up: all the fables about cheap life in Montenegro remain just fables. In the future, we will still have to work either for our own company or earn money by freelancing. But that is another story.

New Years is soon. And for now there is no desire to think about future problems. Here you want to live in the present, enjoy today, the weather and sun make themselves felt. Even now in December it’s +14 here, we get up with the dawn, brew coffee in a Turk, go out onto the balcony and understand that this beauty was worth all these experiences and problems for almost a whole year of life.

That's all for now. And remember that the main thing in moving is the attitude, you need to live by these thoughts and believe that everything will work out. Good luck to all!

We all know Montenegro as a popular tourist destination, but we don’t think much about how ordinary people live on this land, let’s take a closer look at this issue. So, Montenegro is located on the shores of the cool Adriatic Sea. As for economic geography, Montenegro has been a candidate for membership of the European Union since 2010. The problem of joining NATO lies in the unresolved territorial claims to Montenegro from Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the Sutorin region.

Weather and climate in Montenegro

On the Adriatic coast there is a Mediterranean climate, from northern Montenegro it is temperate continental, in summer the coast is very warm, temperatures are usually above 25 degrees, winter is short, but temperatures are only about 5 degrees Celsius, in the mountainous areas there is snow in winter.

Population of Montenegro

The capital of Montenegro is the city of Podgorica; the cultural capital is considered to be the city of Cetinje. Montenegro is home to 625,000 people, among them 43.16% Montenegrins, 31.99% Serbs, 7.77% Bosniaks, 5.03% Albanians, 3.97% Muslims, 1.10% Croats, 0.42% Roma.

Serbian is spoken by 63.6%, Montenegrin by 22%, Bosnian by 5.5%, and Albanian by 5.3%. The difference between the Serbian and Montenegrin languages ​​is not significant and can only be understood by local residents. Montenegrins and Serbs are mostly Orthodox, Albanians are Muslims; in the population census, Montenegrins and Serbs wrote with a dash that they were Montenegrin Serbs.

Pros and cons of life in Montenegro, everything for Russians, reviews from migrants

Montenegro attracts with its natural beauty, incredible biodiversity, the highest ecology; it is the first in the world to be called a purely tourist and ecological country. Montenegro boasts 73 kilometers of beaches, water temperatures are slightly lower than in the Mediterranean Sea, but the water is more transparent and clean, the shores are not always ideal for a beach holiday, however, it is still better than in Croatia. Montenegro also has a stunning canyon on the Tara River, as well as the wonderful Skadar Lake, not to mention the picturesque national natural parks and reserves.

Montenegro is the safest country in the world, at least among tourist destinations. Montenegro is not as rich as Italy, so inveterate bandits simply have not managed to penetrate here yet, but perhaps everything is still ahead, and now you can enjoy safety. Security is good in absolutely all resort towns, including such busy ones as Niksic and Bar. Many tourists are surprised how it is in the Bay of Kotor, they saw cars that are not locked, the windows are not raised, the entrance to residential apartments is open, in other words, come in whoever you want, take what you want, even on busy tourist trails. In this regard, Montenegro is a great place, for example, in some Spain, in Barcelona, ​​you just need to tie your bag to yourself, to a table in a restaurant, just try to let go of something from your hands even for a second, you can say goodbye to such an item forever.

A huge advantage is the perfect ecology and climate. Even though Montenegro is in Europe, prices here are still lower than in Russia, and salaries are exactly the same.

Montenegro is in a sense located in the center of Europe; the distances here are not the same as in Russia or Ukraine. In half an hour you can get from one Montenegrin city to another, see a lot of attractions that are included in the UNESCO lists. In addition, with your car you can go to Rome, Paris, Berlin and other important cities in Europe, what can we say about trains or planes, any of the most interesting attractions in Europe is just a stone's throw away.

Life in Montenegro is a little different from holidays in Montenegro. The country can offer any job. You can live the same as in any other country, work during the day, relax in the evening, travel on weekends, relax in a cafe, stroll along the embankments, go for a picnic in nature, in large cities there are also cultural opportunities, so to speak, you can go to theaters , to concerts, to museums; in this regard, Montenegro as a whole may be a little behind Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Apartments, houses, rent, purchase in Montenegro

Utilities in Montenegro are approximately the same as in Russia, in other words, about 150 euros per month; heating is very expensive in winter, especially if you have to heat with electricity. Not everywhere there is central heating and hot water on tap; you need to use a boiler, which often breaks down. The cost of apartments and villas depends on various factors, primarily the prestige of the location, distance to the coast, level of repair and comfort. In general, real estate prices in Montenegro are about 1,000 euros per square meter; luxury villas in the Bay of Kotor can be sold at prices much higher. You need to look for real estate for purchase or rent in Montenegro on local websites, it is better to write search queries in Montenegrin language, and not in Russian or English, then the prices will be adequate, you can also walk around the towns and ask around if anyone is selling a house. Renting an apartment also depends on factors; a weekly rental is a long-term rental. A two-room apartment can be rented on a long-term basis for 350 euros per month plus utilities; salaries in Montenegro are not high, but often higher than 700 euros per month.

Standard of living, shops, how much money you need

The standard of living in Montenegro is comparable to Eastern Europe; it is necessary to seek some compromise between low incomes and already European prices. Some shops are open until late in the evening, this is the main difference from Western Europe, where it will be impossible to buy food after 6 pm. Prices for food in Montenegro are relatively high, but these products are guaranteed to be of high quality, because they are checked very strictly; cheaper products cannot reach the shelves. Prices for clothing are lower than in Russia, this applies to branded clothing, however, Montenegrins go shopping to neighboring Italy, where the choice is higher.

Jobs, vacancies, economy of Montenegro

Previously, Montenegro was the most economically backward region in Yugoslavia, however, light and food industry in Niksic and Bar, shipbuilding and ship repair in Bijela and Bar, textile industry in Bijelo Polje, electrical industry in Cetinje, aluminum processing are still preserved in Podgorica, ferrous metallurgy in Niksic, woodworking in Rozaj, Beran, Pljevlja, Niksic.

The industry of Montenegro is primarily the production of aluminum, the production of cigarettes, and the extraction of salt. Agriculture - tobacco, potatoes, grains, grapes, olives, citrus fruits.

Montenegro is today the most economically promising country among the republics of the former Yugoslavia, with income growth predicted to be up to 8% over the next 10 years. The role of tourism is increasing every year; today it accounts for more than 20% of the country's GDP.

So, those who are interested in working in tourism, or rather spending the summer at a resort and making money at the same time, can pay attention to Herceg Novi, Budva, Becici, Petrovac, special attention to the city of Kotor on the shores of the Bay of Kotor, which is the most elite tourist place in Montenegro thanks to its incredible natural beauty. And in the Durmitor National Park there is the Zabljak ski resort.

Finding a job in Montenegro is complicated by the traditional Mediterranean mentality, all the same problems as with Italy and Greece. Montenegro does not officially have its own currency; the euro is used.

There is permanent work in Montenegro in the capital, Podgorica; in resort towns, life comes to a standstill during the winter. Montenegro has a transition economy, a developing country. This means that in Montenegro today, in a sense, we are going back to the 1990s, when you can work in the shadows, not pay taxes, and not register your business. The issue of official employment rests with the workers themselves; the state does not have much control over entrepreneurs; some receive their salaries in envelopes, since the tax burden on official salaries is correspondingly very high.

Montenegro is attractive for all sorts of freelancers, people who provide themselves with work on their own and work remotely, with such freelancers they charge practically no taxes. You can serve companies located in Western Europe. Montenegro is more favorable for those who come here with their own business, this also applies to Russians, the flow of Russians who want to find work in Montenegro is very small, since today salaries in Russia itself are higher than in our Montenegro. The country is attractive for those who want to use their investments and at the same time live in a resort in a pleasant climate. Russians can get a job with Russian employers, but they still need to learn the Serbian language, German and Italian and, of course, English will come in handy. It’s easy to find work in real estate agencies, in the summer in tourism, restaurants, hotels, of course you can work in local agriculture if you have the strength and even in production. It is unlikely that a foreigner will be hired to work in the government and government organizations.