Balancing of different dimensions of development—economic, environmental, social, is an imperative of policies and strategies of sustainable growth, which are practiced today in the EU and globally. The main aim of our paper is to investigate the relationship between renewable (REC) and non-renewable energy consumption (NREC), greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and share of ICT in total exports, on one hand, and GDP p.c. on the other. We created a model for EU countries divided in two groups—old and new EU members, by using PMG and ARDL models. Considering the size and structure of the sample of countries, the selected variables in the model and the relevant period (2000–2020), to a certain extent, we filled the research gap in the existing literature. Our results indicate that a 1% increase in the share of REC and ICT in total exports leads to GDP p.c. growth in the long run by 0.151% and 0.168% in old EU countries, i.e., 0.067% and 0.039% in new EU countries, respectively. Contrary, an increase of NREC by 1% has a significant and negative impact on GDP p.c. in the long run, in both groups, leading to a decrease of economic growth by 0.512% in the old and 1.306% in the new EU group. We find a 1% increase of GHG emissions was accompanied by an increase of GDP p.c. in new EU countries by 0.939%, while that impact is insignificant in old EU countries in the long run. We conclude our paper with final remarks and policy implications.

In this paper, a study was completed investigating the financial viability of a 5 MW solar power plant in Montenegro with direct access to the market, rather than a long-term power purchase agreement. The empirical research included an econometric analysis and forecast of the prices on the exchange market, using two methods, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) and neural network auto regression (NNAR), which are compared to the forecast electricity prices. The former was used in order to obtain the electricity prices forecast, since it showed significantly better predictive performances. Consequently, the financial analysis results indicated this business strategy is a financially more viable option, even though it implies increased risks. All investigated metrics and sensitivity analysis pointed in favor of this option, which has significantly higher profitability with a shorter payback period, compared to the usual market strategy. The main conclusion and recommendation drawn from the analysis are that taking into account the entire environment and prospects for the following years, a riskier business strategy of entering the market directly, or a so-called structured PPA, is put forward to improve project returns and speed up energy-transformation processes in a developing country.

Numerous research studies of the various companies’ business practices indicate a strong relationship between customer satisfaction, as an overall positive response generated after the use of the specific product or service, and their intention to continue using the products/services of the company. As a rule, satisfied and particularly delighted customers show intention to return and become loyal, whereas dissatisfied and disappointed customers have switching intentions. Therefore, the objective of this study is to empirically test to which extent the intention to switch banks in Montenegro depends on customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. With this regard, we have posed a question inquiring about the level of consumers satisfaction/dissatisfaction with banking services in Montenegro, what their intentions are regarding the continuation of using services of the chosen bank (customer retention & defection), and to what extent customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction determine their intention to change the bank. The analysis has established a statistically significant correlation between satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and intentions of leaving the bank. Findings has shown a relatively high level of customer satisfaction with banking services in Montenegro, as well as confirming that dissatisfaction usually leads to the intention to leave and change the bank, while satisfaction leads to the continued use of the bank’s services. A high level of competition in the banking services market as well as the struggle for each consumer makes this topic undeniably current and this research represents a significant input for the bank management in Montenegro regarding the identification of the real situation with customer satisfaction and their intention to switch banks in accordance with their level of satisfaction.

Slovenská akadémia vied vykonáva špičkový základný výskum, dlhodobý strategický a aplikovaný výskum a vývoj a poskytuje prístup k vedeckej infraštruktúre.