The Central Bank of Montenegro

The report on activities of DEM to EUR conversion program

 (January 1, 2002 – April 30, 2002)

  Podgorica, May 2002

 

  

Conversion for legal entities

 

All accounts of legal entities were automatically converted into the EUR as of 1/1/2002. All non-cash transactions were performed in EUR, and cash payments both in EUR and DEM. Cash payments proved to be a significant type of conversion.

 

Conversion for private individuals

 

Conversion for the private individuals, residents and non-residents was organized at teller windows of CBOM Payment System Institute and in commercial banks.  The conversion for non-residents and the conversion of other currencies were possible only in commercial banks. Each transaction was documented as clients needed to fill in the forms. The forms are kept in the archive of the CBOM Payment System Institute for the period of five years.

  

Transportation and distribution of money

 

The process of taking the money out of the country and bringing the new currency in, was conducted in 17 transactions. One transaction was performed in 2001, and 16 in 2002:

 

Ø      January, 4 transactions (8, 16, 23, 30)

Ø      February, 4 transactions (6, 13. 20, 25)

Ø      March, 6 transactions (1, 6, 11, 15, 21, 27)

Ø      April, 2 transactions (5, 16).

 

The money processing

 

Special attention was paid to “money processing”, i.e. inspection of banknotes authenticity and packing. The total amount of DEM that was sent was completely valid.

 

In the total quantity of the processed marks there were 486 counterfeited banknotes in total value of DEM 23.340.

 

 

Basic activities in the second half of December 2001

 

The money exhibition “The money in Montenegro in the past and nowadays” was organized and followed by a cocktail party. Brochure on Montenegro money was prepared.

 

The New Year edition of the magazine “Monitor” included an attachment on the euro encompassing all important issues – from banknotes’ ’ characteristics, data on places where the conversion is possible to be conveyed, economic effects of euro introduction etc.

 

The basic activities in the period January– March 2002

 

The press releases that were issued every 7 days containing basic data on the performed conversion represented the basis of the public campaign.

 

The Central Bank Executive Managers granted interviews to different media every week.

 

The basic types of advertisements were 32 billboards  - in every town, especially on buildings of the Central Bank Payment System Departments, city light advertisement at Podgorica airport, bus stops, in front of the Central Bank building, as well as the advertisements in ‘Monitor’ and ‘Vijesti’ that were constant during the dual currency period.

 

TV spot was broadcast on programs of the state and private television stations until the end of January, the same as the radio advertisement.

 

The basic activities in April 2002

 

On April 3, the Central Bank of Montenegro hold a press conference on the topic “The Central Bank of Montenegro – one year later” presenting the results of the Central Bank’s work while the conversion results were especially processed and presented.

 

The continuation of the campaign

 

After the expiry of the dual currency period, two billboards were kept with the message “The euro – our money” - slogan taken from the ECB and used during the entire campaign.

 

 

The amount

 

Table 1. Conversion according to places

 

During the dual currency period in Montenegro (1. 1 – 31. 3. 2002) about DEM 913 million was converted into EUR 466,8 million. Additionally, about 30 million euros, currently being the reserve placed in vaults, were converted.

 

The citizens directly converted (at teller windows of the Central Bank and commercial banks) about DEM 583 million into EUR 298.1 million.

 

The 25% of the total amount was converted in the Central bank, and 39% in commercial banks. 36% of the total amount was converted through cash payments.

 

Seven commercial banks performed conversion, while the major share was converted in Podgoricka Bank (50% of the amount converted in all commercial banks) and Crnogorska Commercial Bank (22%).

 

Out of the total converted amount 99.87 % were DEM, while the other European currencies represented 0.13% of the amount (something less than € 800 000).

 

Table 2. Conversion of other currencies into euro

118.835 citizens converted DEM and other currencies. 60,426 citizens converted money in the Central Bank, while 58.409 citizens converted money in commercial banks.

 

In most cases citizens converted up to DEM 15,000. Only 3% of citizens converted the amounts above DEM 15.000.

 

 

The total expenses of the conversion DEM to EUR Program amounted to €1.200.000,00. Additional expenses in connection with the conversion of metal, taking out of marks and bringing in euros have been anticipated to the amount of about € 200.00.

 

The major part in realized expenses was attributed to the Commerzbank fee expenses. It should be mentioned that these expenses included transportation expenses for the first installment since the transaction was performed through Commerzbank, and they did not segregate certain expense items, but the aggregate price for the service.

 

No.	Expense item	Amount EUR	Percent in the expenses
1.	Public campaign expenses	130.516,19	10.80%
2.	Transportation expenses Montenegro airlines Ministry of Internal Affairs Zetatrans	211.357,45 161.057,45 49.200,00 550,00	17.49% 13,32% 4,07% 0,05%
3.	Fee expenses Purchase EUR[1] Sale DEM Minus balance	828.795,50 374.466,63 252.700,95 201.628,32	68.57% 30.98% 20,91% 16,68%
4.	Overtime fee expenses Payment system Treasury	38.086,79 34.783,01 3.303,00	3,15% 2,88% 0,27%
Total		1.208.755,93	100 %

 

Total conversion expenses represent the following percentages in the total amount of money:

 

No.	Expense item	Value expressed in EUR	Conversion expenses	Percent in expenses
1.	DEM taken out and other currencies	496.720.000,00	1.208.755,93	0,24%
2.	EUR taken in	495.140.000,00		0,24%
3.	Total DEM and EUR	991.860.000,00		0,12%

  

Review of DEM taken out of the country
Transaction	Pieces by denominations								Total number of pieces	Value
m/d/y	1000	500	200	100	50	20	10	5
09/17/01	32,000	1,000	2,000	80,000	40,000	-	410,000	-	565,000	47,000,000
01/08/02	17,700	13,000	9,500	98,100	54,200	144,000	180,000	40,000	556,500	43,500,000
01/16/02	19,000	10,000	8,000	260,000	100,000	220,000	-	-	617,000	61,000,000
01/23/02	24,000	10,000	10,000	300,000	80,000	100,000	300,000	-	824,000	70,000,000
01/30/02	25,000	16,000	11,000	300,000	80,000	140,000	300,000	-	872,000	75,000,000
02/06/02	18,000	8,000	5,000	200,000	60,000	80,000	240,000	-	611,000	50,000,000
02/13/02	23,000	10,000	10,000	240,000	60,000	100,000	100,000	-	543,000	60,000,000
02/20/02	27,000	16,000	10,000	260,000	80,000	80,000	140,000	-	613,000	70,000,000
02/25/02	23,000	10,000	10,000	260,000	60,000	-	100,000	-	463,000	60,000,000
03/01/02	26,000	14,000	15,000	260,000	80,000	140,000	120,000	-	655,000	70,000,000
03/06/02	25,000	10,000	10,000	200,000	40,000	40,000	120,000	-	445,000	56,000,000
03/11/02	26,000	14,000	10,000	220,000	40,000	-	100,000	-	410,000	60,000,000
03/15/02	18,000	8,000	8,000	200,000	60,000	100,000	100,000	80,000	574,000	50,000,000
03/21/02	24,000	12,000	9,000	220,000	60,000	80,000	140,000	40,000	585,000	60,000,000
03/27/02	18,000	10,000	8,000	200,000	60,000	60,000	100,000	40,000	496,000	50,000,000
04/05/02	26,000	12,000	10,000	240,000	80,000	80,000	120,000	40,000	608,000	65,000,000
04/26/02	1,700	800	2,000	23,000	38,000	75,000	160,000	240,000	540,500	11,000,000
Pieces	373,400	174,800	147,500	3,561,100	1,072,200	1,439,000	2,730,000	480,000	9,978,000	958,500,000
Value	373,400,000	87,400,000	29,500,000	356,110,000	53,610,000	28,780,000	27,300,000	2,400,000

 

 

Transaction	Pieces by denominations							Banknotes value	Coins value	Total value
m/d/y	500	200	100	50	20	10	5
12/18/01	-	-	50,000	100,000	500,000	500,000	500,000	27,500,000	2,435,000	29,935,000.00
01/08/02	-	-	100,000	180,000	-	500,000	200,000	25,000,000	-	25,000,000.00
01/16/02	-	-	170,000	140,000	100,000	300,000	200,000	30,000,000	750,000	30,750,000.00
01/23/02	-	-	220,000	120,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	35,000,000	-	35,000,000.00
01/30/02	4,000	5,000	220,000	120,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	38,000,000	-	38,000,000.00
02/06/02	10,000	-	80,000	100,000	400,000	200,000	400,000	30,000,000	-	30,000,000.00
02/13/02	16,000	15,000	100,000	40,000	200,000	200,000	300,000	30,500,000	-	30,500,000.00
02/20/02	16,000	-	100,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	35,000,000	-	35,000,000.00
02/25/02	14,000	-	60,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	30,000,000	-	30,000,000.00
03/01/02	16,000	-	100,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	35,000,000	-	35,000,000.00
03/06/02	12,000	-	110,000	120,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	30,000,000	210,000	30,210,000.00
03/11/02	16,000	-	100,000	100,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	30,000,000	-	30,000,000.00
03/15/02	20,000	-	60,000	60,000	200,000	100,000	200,000	25,000,000	-	25,000,000.00
03/21/02	16,000	-	100,000	100,000	200,000	200,000	200,000	30,000,000	-	30,000,000.00
03/27/02	6,000	-	130,000	120,000	200,000	100,000	100,000	27,500,000	175,000	27,675,000.00
04/05/02	-	-	200,000	100,000	200,000	200,000	300,000	32,500,000	267,500	32,767,500.00
04/16/02	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	302,500	302,500.00
Pieces	146,000	20,000	1,900,000	2,000,000	3,400,000	3,700,000	3,800,000	14,966,000	9,510,000
Value	73,000,000.00	4,000,000.00	190,000,000.00	100,000,000.00	68,000,000.00	37,000,000.00	19,000,000.00	491,000,000	4,140,000	495,140,000.00

 

Metal money

Transaction	Pieces by denominations								Pieces	Value
m/d/y	2	1	0.5	0.2	0.1	0.05	0.02	0.01
09/17/01	225,000	1,125,000	960,000	500,000	1,950,000	1,500,000	-	1,000,000	7,260,000.00	2,435,000
01/16/02	375,000	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	375,000.00	750,000
03/06/02	-	150,000	80,000	100,000	-	-	-	-	330,000.00	210,000
03/27/02	-	75,000	160,000	100,000	-	-	-	-	335,000.00	175,000
04/05/02	75,000	75,000	80,000	-	-	-	-	250,000	480,000.00	267,500
04/16/02	75,000	75,000	80,000	100,000	150,000	-	-	250,000	730,000.00	302,500
Pieces	750,000	1,500,000	1,360,000	800,000	2,100,000	1,500,000	-	1,500,000	9,510,000	-
Value	1,500,000.00	1,500,000.00	680,000.00	160,000.00	210,000.00	75,000.00	-	15,000.00	-	4,140,000