PODGORICA (Montenegro), May 29 (SeeNews) – Montenegrin state-controlled wine producer 13 Jul-Plantaze [MNG:PLAP] is facing a shortage of seasonal workers from countries in the Western Balkans due to the restrictions imposed to curb the coronavirus spread, a company official said.
"People cannot come from Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and Kosovo. We have a lot of workers from those countries, who were here for the start of pruning and now cannot come to work, even though they have contract obligations," Dusan Kankaras, director for vine- and fruit-growing said in a video file posted on the website of public broadcaster RTCG on Thursday.
In March, Montenegro barred foreigners from entering the country, except for those with a permanent residence status, to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on its territory. Late on Thursday, the government said it plans to lift the coronavirus restrictions on the entry of citizens of all Western Balkans countries except Serbia on June 1, as those countries have below 25 active coronavirus cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
"We need 90 workers for peach picking, 120 workers for the table grape harvest which starts in July, and 300 workers for operations we have in the vineyard," Kankaras said.
Montenegro, which registered its first case of the disease in March, currently has no active cases of the novel coronavirus disease, the country's health institute said on Sunday. The country has recorded a total of 324 coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the disease on its territory in March.