Home › Boats for sale Montenegro › Buying a Boat in Montenegro: Vignette, Register, Customs
Buying a boat in Montenegro from an EU country means leaving the EU tax system and entering a different one. Montenegro is not a member of the European Union, so a boat exported there with proof of export carries no EU VAT, while Montenegrin rules decide what happens on arrival: a customs regime for temporary import, a yacht register for vessels longer than 7 metres, a yearly vignette and a tourist tax. Berth prices at three named marinas, and the lift and yard facilities at Bar, Budva and Bijela, let a buyer cost the first year. This guide is for buyers from the EU and beyond. It follows the purchase in the order it happens, says where a question has to go to the seller or an authority, and says what we do at each stage.
In this guide: what the price really includes; how the purchase works, stage by stage; the figures in one table; reading the condition of a used boat; why appoint EYB; questions buyers ask.
The asking price is only the start. Tax comes first. When goods are exported from the EU to a non-EU country, they are exempt from EU VAT, whether the buyer is a business or an individual, provided the exporter keeps records of the export and the proof of export issued by customs, according to EU Access2Markets and the exemption on exportation in Article 146 of the EU VAT Directive. A pleasure boat that leaves the EU loses its Union status and becomes a non-Union good, according to the European Commission guidance note of 30 April 2026. Ask the seller for the export records and the customs proof of export before the balance is paid.
Montenegro then applies its own rules. The general VAT rate is 21 percent, and import VAT is paid together with customs duties to the Customs Administration, according to the PwC tax summaries. Duty depends on the tariff number, origin and value of the goods. The Customs Administration page on customs procedures lists special use, which includes temporary import, among its procedures. Ask Montenegrin customs to confirm in writing the VAT and any duty due on this boat, and compare two offers only when each says whether they are included.
The state charges follow. A foreign yacht for personal use pays a vignette of EUR 18 per metre of length for one year if it is a sailing yacht and EUR 30 per metre if it is a motor yacht or multihull, under Article 28 of the Law on Yachts. The tourist residence tax for a yacht of 11 to 15 m is EUR 80 for up to one year, under the government decree of 16 February 2016. The fee schedule of the Maritime Safety Administration lists registration at EUR 30 per metre of length for a motor-driven or multihull yacht and EUR 20 per metre for a sailing yacht, and a tax on the use of vessels of EUR 1,500 for 12 to 16 m, reduced by 5 percent for each year of age up to 50 percent, so ask the Administration whether that tax applies to your boat.
The berth is the large variable. The Marina Bar price list, applied from 1 January 2025, gives EUR 4,227 for an annual commercial berth for a boat up to 12 m, VAT included. The 2025 list of Portonovi Marina gives EUR 8,500 for an annual berth in the 12 m class, VAT included. The Luka Budva tariff adopted on 31 March 2025 gives EUR 7,173.83 for an annual commercial berth of 12 to 12.99 m, excluding VAT. Get your berth priced in writing by the marina you choose before you buy.
What we do: we handle enquiries and negotiations in your language, and the head office coordinates with a local broker, so the questions on VAT, duty, fees and berth go to the seller and the authorities in writing and the answers reach you before you make an offer.
Stage one: offer, deposit and contract. Once the offer and the sale terms are agreed, the buyer pays a 10 percent deposit into escrow, and the balance goes to the seller when the contract conditions are met. Those conditions should name the export documents, the registry papers and the survey result, so you are not committed before you know the boat. What we do: a lawyer prepares the sale contract, and we ask that it carry the document list and the survey condition.
Stage two: tax and customs status. Most vessels arriving in Montenegro sail under a foreign flag and are in the customs regime of temporary import, which allows foreign vessels meant for re-export to be imported without import duties and taxes and without customs papers, according to the National Programme for Facilitation in Maritime Traffic of June 2023. For yachts the relief is made under Annex C of the Istanbul Convention by a conclusive act, an oral declaration. The conditions are that the vessel is registered outside Montenegro, that the owner is a foreign person resident abroad, and that any authorisation for a person managing the vessel is certified by the state the vessel comes from. The same programme lets a Montenegrin resident operate such a boat only in listed cases, among them the owner aboard or a test run, and other use may be a customs offence for which all import duties and taxes can be charged. Ask Montenegrin customs in writing which rule covers your boat and your residence, and keep the answer with the boat’s papers. What we do: the head office puts that question to customs through the local broker, and the route is chosen before you pay.
Stage three: flag and register. In Montenegrin law a yacht is a motor or sailing vessel longer than 7 m, used privately or commercially, and the Maritime Safety Administration keeps the register, as its yacht registry page explains. A yacht owned by a foreign legal or natural person can be registered, and a yacht already registered elsewhere cannot be registered at the same time. Among the documents are the compulsory insurance policy, a certificate of deletion from the previous registry, proof of ownership and a certified power of attorney if a representative applies. A survey is a condition of first registration unless the yacht was built to Directive 94/25/EC or to the US or UK standards named in the Law on Yachts, and for a yacht previously registered elsewhere the Administration considers a survey a condition, at the owner’s expense. The certificate of registration is issued within four days of submission and is valid for three years. What we do: the head office coordinates the file with the local broker so the originals are ready before the sale closes.
Stage four: arrival and clearance. The ports open for international traffic are Bar, Budva, Kotor, Kumbor (Portonovi), Tivat (Gat I and Gat II, Porto Montenegro) and Zelenika. The customs offices at Bar, Zelenika and Kotor are open 24 hours all year and serve yachts. A person navigating a foreign yacht into Montenegrin waters proceeds directly to a designated port of entry for border control, the vignette and the certified crew and passenger list. The Harbour Master’s Office then issues the vignette. A vignette is valid for up to one year. What we do: enquiries and negotiations run in your language, and the head office coordinates the arrival plan with the local broker.
Stage five: insurance and handover. Insurance is arranged before you sail. Carry on board the certificate of registration, the survey report, proof of third-party insurance and proof of ownership or a power of attorney. At handover, collect the originals, the service history and the manuals. What we do: a survey, haul-out and sea trial can be arranged at your expense before the balance is paid to the seller.
| Item | Figure | Applies to, and whose figure |
|---|---|---|
| EU VAT on a boat exported to Montenegro | none, with proof of export | EU Access2Markets, page version of October 2026 |
| Montenegrin VAT, general rate | 21 percent | PwC tax summaries, undated |
| Yacht in Montenegrin law | longer than 7 m | Maritime Safety Administration, undated |
| Registration fee | EUR 30 per metre (motor, multihull); EUR 20 per metre (sailing) | Maritime Safety Administration fee schedule, OG 42/15 |
| Registration certificate | issued in 4 days; valid 3 years | Law on Yachts, Article 13 |
| Technical survey fee | EUR 7 per metre | Maritime Safety Administration fee schedule |
| Technical survey, yacht for personal use | once in 3 years | Law on Yachts, Article 16 |
| Vignette, foreign yacht for personal use, 1 year | EUR 18 per metre (sailing); EUR 30 per metre (motor, multihull) | Law on Yachts, Article 28 |
| Tourist residence tax, yacht of 11 to 15 m, 1 year | EUR 80 | Government decree, 16 February 2016 |
| Ports open for international traffic | 6 | National Programme, June 2023 |
| Annual berth, up to 12 m, VAT included | EUR 4,227 | Marina Bar, in force from 1 January 2025 |
| Annual berth, 12 m class, VAT included | EUR 8,500 | Portonovi Marina, 2025 |
| Annual berth, 12 to 12.99 m, excluding VAT | EUR 7,173.83 | Luka Budva, tariff of 31 March 2025 |
| Crane lift or launch, 12 to 14 m, up to 10 t, VAT included | EUR 270 | Marina Bar, in force from 1 January 2025 |
Figures as of 28 October 2026 unless dated, from the sources listed below.
Use the table against the boat you are looking at. The export proof and the customs route come first, because each changes the price.
A used boat in Montenegro is judged on its own papers and survey. Ask the seller for the boat’s history, its previous use and its service record. The Yacht Register is a public record that holds the owner or co-owners and any encumbrances, bareboat charter rights and pre-emption rights, and an authorised owner can ask for a certificate on the status of the registration. Ask the seller to obtain it, so that a lien or a charter right is found before a deposit is paid.
Ask how the boat has been used. Under the Law on Yachts a yacht for personal purposes is surveyed once in three years and a commercial yacht every year; an occasional survey follows an accident, a defect affecting seaworthiness, repairs or a change of main engine. A seller should be able to show which category the boat has been in and the survey reports behind it. For a foreign-flag boat, customs officers are told to watch for unlawful chartering, so the use history matters on that side as well.
Appoint your own surveyor, independent of the seller and of any broker, and agree in the contract what happens to the findings: a price reduction, repair before delivery, or the right to withdraw. Ask for a lift-out, so that hull, keel, rudder and running gear are inspected out of the water.
Ask about haul-out by name. Marina Bar lists a crane for lifting and launching, at EUR 210 for 10 to 12 m up to 8 t and EUR 270 for 12 to 14 m up to 10 t, VAT included. For larger craft, Adriatic 42 on the former Bijela shipyard site in the Bay of Kotor lists a 720 t travel lift, a floating dock of 180 by 34 m and 8,000 m2 of workshops and warehouses. Ask each yard for the lift capacity, the date and the price in writing. A seller who cannot produce the registry certificate, the export or customs papers and a lift-out date should not receive a deposit.
What we do: a survey, haul-out and sea trial can be arranged at your expense, and the head office coordinates them with the local broker.
We act for the buyer. The head office coordinates the purchase with a local broker, a lawyer prepares the sale contract, and you pay a 10 percent deposit into escrow after the offer and sale terms are agreed, then the balance to the seller when the contract conditions are met. A survey, haul-out and sea trial can be arranged at your expense. We handle enquiries, viewings and negotiations in your language, so you deal with one office instead of a chain of them.
We know where a purchase stalls, and in Montenegro that is the customs route, the register papers and the arrival formalities. You can see current listings among our boats for sale in Montenegro, or by coast: the Bay of Kotor, the Budva Riviera, the Herceg Novi coast, Tivat and the Bar Riviera. Our page on yacht brokers in Montenegro sets out how we work there. We do not rush buyers: a good boat survives a careful look.
Tell us the boat, or the kind of boat, you are considering, and we will explain how we would approach it and what our involvement as your broker would include.
Astrit Bacaj
Local agent, European Yacht Brokers
+355 68 404 4517
+39 366 718 4221
Shkodër–Lezhë Highway, km 14, Vau i Dejës, Shkodër, Albania
info@europeanyachtbrokers.com
Check four things before you agree a price. First, the tax position: ask the seller for the export records and the customs proof of export, and ask Montenegrin customs to confirm the VAT and duty in writing. Second, ownership: the Yacht Register is a public record of the owner and any encumbrance, so ask the seller to obtain a certificate on the status of the registration. Third, an independent survey with a lift-out. Fourth, insurance, since third-party liability cover is compulsory. A seller slow to produce these papers is telling you something. We coordinate these checks with the local broker.
For a boat sold from the EU to Montenegro, no EU VAT is charged on the sale, provided the exporter keeps the records and the customs proof of export, according to EU Access2Markets and Article 146 of the EU VAT Directive. Montenegrin treatment is settled with Montenegrin customs on arrival: the general VAT rate is 21 percent, and import VAT is paid together with customs duties. Many foreign yachts enter under temporary import instead, so ask customs in writing which regime applies to this boat and this owner. We put the question to the seller through the local broker and negotiate in your language.
Yes. A yacht owned by a foreign legal or natural person can be registered in the Montenegrin Yacht Register, provided it is longer than 7 m. A yacht already registered elsewhere cannot be registered at the same time, so a certificate of deletion from the previous registry is among the documents. The certificate of registration is issued within four days of submission and is valid for three years, and provisional registration on copies of the documents can run for up to three months while the originals follow. Ask the Maritime Safety Administration which power of attorney it accepts. We coordinate the purchase with the local broker.
Yes. Under Article 37 of the Law on Compulsory Transport Insurance, the owner or authorised user of a vessel that must be entered in the vessel register must sign a contract insuring liability for damage to third parties from bodily injury, impaired health or death. The owner of a foreign vessel must be insured before obtaining the licence to sail in domestic territorial waters, unless other insurance exists or an international agreement says otherwise, and use at sea is not permitted without the contract. Ask an insurer for a quote on the specific boat, and for the minimum cover the law requires.
Temporary import for yachts rests on three conditions: the vessel is registered outside Montenegro, the owner is a foreign person resident abroad, and any authorisation for a person managing the vessel is certified by the state the vessel comes from. A Montenegrin resident may operate such a boat, from the customs viewpoint, when the owner or a close family member is aboard, on a test run, repair or regular maintenance, on the way to winter storage, or on an exact route named in the authorisation. Name the flag, the use and your residence when you put the question to customs. We put it through the local broker before you pay.
Yes, an independent survey belongs in every purchase of a used boat, and when buying a boat in Montenegro it also helps to know what the register asks for. A survey is a condition of first registration unless the yacht was built to Directive 94/25/EC or to the US or UK standards named in the Law on Yachts, and for a yacht previously registered elsewhere the Administration considers a survey a condition. A yacht for personal use is then surveyed once in three years. Appoint a surveyor independent of the seller and of any broker, ask for a lift-out and agree what happens to the findings. We can arrange it at your expense.
Facts retrieved and read on 28 October 2026. Author: European Yacht Brokers.
