How to move to Montenegro and work from there: eyewitness advice

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Going on vacation to Montenegro and staying there? This is very easy to do!

Most of the people who can afford to work remotely and travel choose Asia because it is warm and cheap. But Asia is not the only option for "changing the picture", because in Europe there are also places where you can live according to your means and breathe the sea air. This time we decided to look into visa-free Europe and share the experience of a girl who left for a small mountain-sea country and stayed there.

My name is Anastasia, I am 25 years old, and I lived in Montenegro for a year and a half. By education - Master of Economics, I speak English, Serbian fluently, I also know Spanish, French, Albanian. Now I work as a freelancer, although it did not come to this immediately, but first things first.

What attracted Montenegro

My move to the country of mountains and forests was preceded by two trips to rest. During the first one, I fell in love with nature, a little wild, but very diverse. Imagine yourself: on the territory of a tiny country (which is actually smaller than my native Donetsk region) there is everything for the happiness of a traveler:

• The Adriatic Sea in the south;
• A national park located in the mountains in the north;
• one of the largest and most beautiful lakes - Skadar;
• Tara canyon (the second deepest in the world);
• mountain rivers, waterfalls (hence rafting), dilapidated forts and fortresses;
• a huge number of legends and places for lovers of holy relics.

All this simply mesmerized me, so after arriving home in June, I began to plan a second trip, which took place in September of the same year.

This time I got to know the residents better. Simple, sometimes even naive people with a preserved respect for traditions, they are hospitable to us, "Rus", and are ready to help in your adversity, suggest the right direction (and even give you a lift), drink, feed, and if there are children - caress and torture them with admiring oohs and ahs.

Such hospitality is very easy to explain, because the whole country is a big village, and for them you become a curiosity and a reason for evening discussions with a neighbor. Therefore, be prepared that the owners will simply torture you with questions about your family, home, work and how you like our Crna Gora.

There are many compatriots in Montenegro, there are communities - Russian and Ukrainian, schools, kindergartens, etc.

The language barrier

You can somehow explain yourself in Russian, a set of phrases in English will further facilitate your communication, but nevertheless, if your goal is to live and not rest in Montenegro, I strongly recommend that you learn Montenegrin (in fact, it is Serbian, but the locals do not like say this). It's pretty light and funny. Before moving, I was engaged in self-study for about a month, and when I got into the language environment, after 3 months I began to speak fluently. With knowledge of the language, you will at least save time in your daily chores, and you will also be able to avoid the "tourist tax". Here, as elsewhere, they do not hesitate to earn tips from passing tourists.

Financial question

Prices here vary depending on the season, time of year and place of residence. I will give the average figures, to which you can add / subtract 30-40% to get the prices "season on the coast" or "life in winter in the north of the country."

Lodging

Renting a 1- or 2-room apartment - about 250-350 € per month. In the private sector it is cheaper, and in new buildings, accordingly, more expensive. You can contact a real estate agency. Here they take a percentage from the landlords, but in reality they will simply "throw" another € 30-50 in addition to the monthly payment, and in the end you will pay for the specified service.

There is no central heating, like gas, and electricity is quite expensive (the calculation is about 20-30 € per person in summer, and in winter - 2 times more), but there is a "lower tariff" - 70% discount every day from 23: 00 to 07:00 and all Sunday.

Other utility costs:

• water - about 1.5-2 € per person / month;
• housing and communal services - 5-7 €.

Housing can be bought, the price is per 1 sq. m. on average 600-1100 €. Look for offers in local newspapers.

Nutrition

With food, things are more pleasant. Firstly, because the products are natural and fresh, especially seasonal fruits, vegetables and dairy products; secondly, it is cheaper than at home (at least it was 1, 5 years ago, when I just arrived here). Examples of prices:

• Milk - 0, 60-0, 90 € per liter.
• Olive oil - 3, 50-5, 00 € liter.
• Eggs - 0, 90-1, 20 € per ten.
• Spaghetti - 0, 30-0, 80 € per package of 500 g.
• Potatoes - 0, 50-0, 70 € per kg.
• Tomatoes - 0, 60-0, 90 € per kg.
• Apples - 0, 45-1, 10 € per kg.
• Rice - 0, 70-4, 5 € per kg.
• Strawberries - 2, 15-3, 50 € per kg.
• Bananas - 0, 80-1, 40 € per kg.
• Cheese - 3, 50-7, 60 € per kg.
• Beef - 4, 50-7, 00 € per kg.

What is expensive or not available at all is porridge. Everything except rice and oatmeal. Forget about buckwheat. Butter - for 250 g you will have to pay at least 6 €; tea - if it's cheap, then 0, 50-1, 50 € for 20 sachets, but it's impossible to drink it, and a good one will cost 5-10 € for 500 g. They don't know about the existence of cottage cheese here, as well as condensed milk … But you can enjoy the local honey and kaymak.

Despite the proximity of the sea, seafood is quite expensive, but sometimes you can buy salmon for 3, 50 € per 1 kg. Montenegrin wine - from 2, 50 € to 6 € per bottle, and for something "older" - 25-70 €.

Montenegrins are real meat eaters:

Transport

Car rental will cost 20-50 € per day, and if you rent for more than 3 days, there will be discounts. Gasoline cost: AI 95 - 1, 35 € / l, AI 98 - 1, 40 € / l. The driver's license is international, for renting a car you will still need at least 3 years of experience.

Public transport - 0, 40 € in the capital, on the coast - about 1 € for travel from city to city. Taxi - 0, 40-0, 80 € / km, for long journeys I advise buses - a little slower, but you will pay a maximum of 7 € for this (this is a journey through the whole of Montenegro).

mobile connection

Mobile communications are quite expensive, as is the Internet. This is due to the fact that there are simply no local providers in Montenegro, services are provided by neighboring countries - Serbia and Croatia. So, for a passable Internet (outgoing speed - 0.5 Mb, incoming speed - 5 Mb) you will pay 31 € per month. Mobile Internet - 3 € for 15 days 300 MB at maximum speed; the quality of the mobile Internet is an order of magnitude higher than in Ukraine.

Montenegrins do not like to talk a lot on the phone - it's expensive, but for 3 € you can activate a promotional offer - 100 minutes of calls and 100 SMS for all operators; calls abroad - about 1, 50 € per minute.

Which region to go to

All organizations, ministries, etc. are located in Podgorica - the capital of Montenegro, where I live.

In the coastal region in the summer, you can go crazy with the influx of tourists and vacationers, whom you will not find in October in the afternoon with fire, and in December you can howl from melancholy. There are no such problems in Podgorica. Among other things, this is the only city with a theater, cinema, bowling, exhibition center and a normal shopping center.

Visa

Citizens of Ukraine and Russia do not need a visa to enter the territory of Montenegro: Ukrainians can stay here as a tourist for 3 months, Russians - 30 days. Then you need to leave the country and again you can return for the same period.

The second option is to get a boravak. This is an annual visa that is issued on the basis of:

1. Works on the territory of the country.
2. Marriage with a citizen (Coy) of the country.
3. Business start-up.
4. Family reunification rights.

When to go

To the question "When is it better for me to go?" I will ask a counter question "What is your goal?" If you look, try, find out, "what if it's mine", it is better to go during the season (from May to the end of summer). For a long-term move, it is better to go no later than April in order to learn a little the language and get settled before the influx of tourists.

Advantages and disadvantages

Summing up, I will write a summary of what pleasantly surprised me from personal experience, and what upset and upset me.

Pros:

• Clean country … Clean in every sense - ecology, food, low crime rate. Montenegrins practically do not drink, that is, 2-3 bottles of beer are the norm for a party.
• Montenegrins - good people. Above I have already written about their boundless hospitality and sincere love for children, to this it should be added that they are always ready to help.
• Easy life. Life is definitely easier here. Probably, the gene "light life" appeared in the air during the years of cultivated laziness. The locals, like undercover millionaires, do nothing and at the same time sit in cafes and drink coffee all the time. The working day of office workers lasts from 09:00 to 15:00, with an hour off. On Sunday, the first sleepy citizens can be seen around noon. By the way, on this day almost everything in the city is closed, except for the cafe. There are no traffic jams, no angry, hating looks, chronically tired "office plankton", no drunken neighbor.

Minuses:

• Bureaucracy. The law “without a piece of paper, you are k ** shka …” here works the same way as here. Everywhere and everywhere you will need some kind of document, for which you need to sign an agreement, transfer a passport, open an account, pay tax, take a confirmation, take a notice, and all this in different buildings and ministries.
• Montenegrins - people are lazy. Having received the answer “Okay, we'll finish all this tomorrow,” at best, count on a period of one week, and if you were given a period of one week, it will drag on for a month. Any seal, signature, confirmation will require moral strength from you, and sometimes material resources. Dealing with Montenegrins is a utopia, because the concepts of “deadline”, “punctuality”, “responsibility” are completely absent in their vocabulary, but they absorb “polako” (slowly) and “don't be too fast” (don't rush) with their mother's milk … All business and meetings take place over a cup of coffee, and they have no clear boundaries, so forget about the "calendar" function on your phone - your plans will still not fit into the life of a Montenegrin.
• Stereotypes. This disadvantage applies more to the fair sex. No matter how hard you try, for a Montenegrin you are "Russian", which translated from their language means "easily accessible, ready for anything." They will tell you how wonderful you are, invite you for a cup of coffee and be ideal gentlemen, but that does not mean that they have serious plans for you. If you are not “conquered” in 2-3 days, the gentleman will simply disappear, and everyone will be left with nothing.