Deputy Minister of Shipping, Vassilis Demetriades, has said that as a big maritime centre Cyprus is leading the way with a view to bridge the gap and bring to the same level candidate states for EU membership and members states, in order to have a strong European maritime sector.

Vassiliades had a meeting on Tuesday with Minister of Capital Investment of Montenegro, Mladen Bojanić, who is in charge for maritime transport issues, in the framework of Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades` state visit to Montenegro.

In statements after the meeting, Demetriades said that the aim of the visit is to build bilateral relations on a sound basis, noting that the maritime sector in which Cyprus is a pioneer offers the opportunity to build such relations with Montenegro.

According to a press release issued by the Cypriot Presidency, Demetriades noted that as a candidate country for EU membership  Montenegro is trying to harmonise with the acquis and Cyprus is ready to offer its know-how, its expertise and cooperation in maritime transportation, to help Montenegro join the EU, as well as for the two countries to cooperate in the framework of the international maritime organisation for a positive agenda in global shipping.

The Shipping Deputy Minister said that he had a very constructive meeting with Bojanić and that they negotiated an agreement on the mutual recognition of seafarers` certificates, adding that there are still some procedural issues pending on the part of Montenegro for the agreement to be signed, probably in October in Cyprus.

He also noted that he invited a delegation from Montenegro to visit Cyprus for the Maritime Cyprus 2022 Conference that will take place on October 9 - 12 in Limassol.

Demetriades said that "we will try, at Cyprus` initiative, for Montenegro to soon join the MoU on Port State Control -  to harmonise  efforts to control ships in the Mediterranean - the Mediterranean MoU and the Paris MoU."

As a big maritime centre Cyprus is leading the way with a view to bridge the gap and bring to the same level candidate states for EU membership and members states, in order to have a strong European maritime sector, and build cooperation, with a view to further develop the maritime sector for the benefit of both Cyprus and Montenegro, he concluded.