The Euro – money in Montenegro

The official means of payment in Montenegro is euro. It was introduced on the basis of the Law on the Central Bank - as the replacement for the German mark that previously replaced dinar in 2000. The euro is referred to as EUR or by sign . It is issued by the European Central Bank, with the Head office in Frankfurt.

The euro is money unit of the European Monetary Union consisting of Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, Germany, Portugal and Spain. This money is also used by Andorra, Vatican and San Marino.

Euro replaced German mark in Montenegro. The relation of these two currencies, as established by the European Union, Central Banks of Euro land countries and European Central Bank, is EUR 1=DEM 1.95583. This exchange rate is fixed and shall not be changed and neither will the exchange rate of other ex-currencies of Euro system. The conversion of mark in Germany shall be performed by the Bundesbank in unlimited time period – without charging any fee.

After June 30, 2002, the Central Bank of Montenegro has been charging fee for the purchase of DEM in the amount of 5% for banknotes and 8% for coins of the converted amount face value, presented in EUR.

For the purchase of banknotes of other countries from Euro zone, the Central Bank charges 10% fee of the converted amount face value, represented in EUR.

Euro is introduced in order to facilitate the turnover of goods and services and international communication of Montenegro that, as a small, open country tends to have strong convertible currency based on which it will more easily establish its economy and get involved in the European economic streams. By the introduction of Euro, own currency risk shall be avoided.

Euro has fix value only in relation to currencies it replaced. Its relation to dollar, pounds sterling, yen, Swiss franc and other currencies shall be determined by the market.

Euro denominations

There are seven banknotes: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 and 500 euros and eight coins: 1 and 2 euros and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents. Banknotes are printed by the European Central Bank and they are the same in all countries; coins heads are the same in all countries of Euro land while tails bear national symbol. No matter in which country they have been coined, coins are legal means of payment in all countries using Euro.

Picture of banknotes	Denomination	Color	Size	Design
	EUR 5	Gray	120 x 62 mm	Classical
	EUR 10	Red	127 x 67 mm	Romanesque
	EUR 20	Blue	133 x 72 mm	Gothic
	EUR 50	Orange	140 x 77 mm	Renaissance
	EUR 100	Green	147 x 82 mm	Baroque and rococo
	EUR 200	Yellow - brown	153 x 82 mm	Iron and glass architecture
	EUR 500	Purple	160 x 82 mm	Modern architecture of 20. century

Reproductions of whole banknotes or their parts must be 25% bigger or smaller than the real size of notes
(Regulation of the European Central Bank).

Appearance of coined Euro denominations