Septic Tank Pumping in Montenegro: Price per m³ in Each Municipality, 2027 Increases and Who Provides the Service

In Montenegro people search for septic tank emptying by town and price: on 24 September 2026 Google completed crpljenje septicke jame (septic tank pumping) with podgorica and koliko kosta crpljenje septicke jame (how much does septic tank pumping cost), ciscenje septicke jame (septic tank cleaning) first with crna gora (Montenegro), and praznjenje septicke jame (septic tank emptying) with podgorica and cena (price). For septicka jama (septic tank) it also offered se brzo puni (fills up quickly), zidanje (building with blocks) and izgradnja (construction). In English and Russian there are no such searches for Montenegro.

Unlike most household services, this one has a regulated price. Pumping, removing and disposing of wastewater from septic tanks is a utility activity, so the price per cubic metre is proposed by the municipal provider and approved by the Regulatory Agency for Energy and Regulated Utility Activities (REGAGEN). This guide gives the 2026 and 2027 prices from those decisions, a sample bill and what to check when you order.

2026 prices by municipality

In July 2025 REGAGEN approved these prices for 2026:

The gap is large: a cubic metre in Herceg Novi costs almost three times as much as in Nikšić. In Podgorica the 2026 price is slightly lower than in 2025, when, according to the Podgorica water utility's decision, it was €16.6049 per m³.

What was approved for 2027

At sessions held from 27 to 29 July 2026 REGAGEN approved new prices, which apply from 2027. They are published on the page with the decisions of the agency's board:

In most municipalities the change is small: Bar, Nikšić, Berane and Bijelo Polje get marginally cheaper, and Herceg Novi by about 8%. In Podgorica and Cetinje the price rises by a few per cent. The exception is Budva, where a cubic metre jumps from €19.1033 to €34.4055, or by about 80%.

In July 2026 REGAGEN also rejected the 2027 requests of two providers: the companies PPOV Kotor–Tivat and Komunalno i vodovod Žabljak. For those municipalities we therefore could not give a regulated price for 2027.

How this price is set

According to the decisions we read, the procedure runs as follows:

1. The provider proposes a price. The Podgorica water utility, for example, filed its request for 2026 on 30 April 2025.
2. REGAGEN reviews the proposal under the methodology for regulated utility activities and asks for corrections. In the Podgorica case it asked for corrections and additions, and the utility submitted a corrected tariff model.
3. The agency gives its approval under Article 49 of the Law on Utility Activities; for 2026 this was on 24 July 2025.
4. The provider sets the price with the prior approval of the municipal assembly, under Article 54 of the same law.

So this price is not negotiated the way you would with a tradesperson: the municipal provider charges each cubic metre at the approved price.

What one emptying costs

The charge is per cubic metre, so the bill depends on how much wastewater is pumped out. At the 2026 prices it looks like this:

• Podgorica: 5 m³ costs €81.61, and 10 m³ €163.23, excluding VAT.
• Nikšić: 10 m³ costs €78.30.
• Budva: 10 m³ costs €191.03, and at the 2027 price it will be €344.06.

Bar's example helps with VAT. According to a Vijesti report carried by RTNK on 22 September 2026, a cubic metre in Bar in 2027 costs €15.167 excluding VAT, or €18.35 including VAT, which corresponds to a rate of 21%. If the same rate is applied to Podgorica, 10 m³ at the 2026 price comes to about €197.50 including VAT.

Who provides the service

In the municipalities in the tables the service is provided by the municipal water utilities, and in Podgorica also by Agencija za stanovanje (the city housing agency), which has a lower approved price than the water utility for 2027. Private contractors also advertise: on 24 September 2026 oglasi.me carried an advert for septic tank cleaning from Kotor, without a price, and two adverts from Podgorica for building septic tanks in stone, with the price on request.

If you choose a private contractor, ask the same things you would ask the utility: what the price per cubic metre is, how the quantity is measured and where the wastewater is taken. The regulated service, as its name says, also covers removal and disposal, not just pumping.

What to check when you order

1. The price per m³ and whether it includes VAT, because the decisions state the amount per cubic metre, and the bill also carries tax.
2. How the quantity is determined, because the total grows with every cubic metre.
3. That removal and disposal are included in the price and not charged separately.
4. Which price applies on the day of the service, because the 2027 prices apply from the new year.
5. Fiscal receipt: a registered provider's bill goes through the electronic fiscalisation system.

The Podgorica water utility's price decisions are published on the utility's notice board.

Who helps on Glatko

As of 24 September 2026 Glatko had no separate category for septic tank pumping, and none of the 25 requests the platform received between 24 April and 28 June 2026 concerned a septic tank. For faults in the drains and sewer pipes inside a home the platform had ten verified plumbers in the plumbing and renovation plumbing categories, most of them in Podgorica. For household faults see our guide to plumbers in Podgorica, and if you suspect a leak in the pipework, the guide to water leak detection.

What we did not measure

We did not check private contractors' prices, the minimum quantity charged, travel costs outside settlements or actual bills. For Kotor, Tivat, Ulcinj, Danilovgrad and other municipalities without a decision in the tables we found no prices, and for Agencija za stanovanje we found no decision for 2026. We have given the amounts as the decisions state them, to four decimal places.