A NEW IPARD COMPETITION BY THE END OF THE WEEK

19. September 2019.

A new, sixth public call for the IPARD program should be announced by the end of this week, Agriculture Minister Branislav Nedimovic said for the Politika daily.

According to information from the website of the Agrarian Payments Administration, around 4.7 billion dinars have been allocated for all investments in the competition.

That is a competition related to investments in physical assets of farms ("Measure 1"), and the call also covers the procurement of tractors and agricultural machinery. Following that public call, a call for the so-called "Measure 3" in the fisheries sector, worth around 3.6 billion dinars, should be launched in October.

The “Agrosmart” portal states that the preparation of the new regulations was preceded by changes to the IPARD program. The list of eligible costs was changed by last year's amendments and new sectors were added - eggs and grapes, meaning that poultry, and most likely wine producers, will be able to compete for the first time for the European money. The new conditions they will have to fulfill will become known when a public invitation is issued.

The portal states that the amended rules also benefit vegetable producers. As part of Measure 1, producers with a capacity of up to 50 hectares of land could compete so far, while the limit has now been raised to 100 hectares, so that the call will apply to the largest vegetable growers, too. There are also changes in the nursery production of fruits and vines.

As said by Biljana Petrovic, Director of the Agrarian Payments Directorate, new rules and procedures had been drawn up and a part of the documentation that applicants must submit had been simplified.

She pointed out that the form of the business plan had been reduced, which was the most complicated document for those who applied

As part of the IPARD competition (Measure 1 and Measure 3), 736 requests have been received so far, most of them for the purchase of tractors. According to earlier information, the procedure for applying for grants is still accompanied by problems faced by all countries. Although there are a large number of consulting firms, applicants' requests are often incomplete and require additions, which slows down the processing process. According to the Administration’s experience, the most common problem is with business plans.

“Given that IPARD is a new measure in Serbia, these are "childhood diseases" that have been passed by all countries, so we must go through them, too. We organize trainings for consultants and farmers in order to provide them with as much information as they need,” Ms. Petrovic. said

Source: “Politika” daily, Business Morning and Coordination Body