MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE MEETS WITH BUSINESSMEN OF PRESEVO, BUJANOVAC AND MEDVEDJA

The Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection Snezana Boskovic Bogosavljevic and the President of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Zoran Stankovic spoke yesterday with businessmen and representatives of the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja about restarting the production of the former “Jugokop” slaughterhouse, the operation of veterinary inspection and the sale of tobacco from the region.

Minister Bogosavljevic Boskovic stated that an increase in agricultural production and payment of subsidies were also discussed with the Mayors of Presevo Ragmi Mustafa, Bujanovac Nagip Arifi and with representatives of the municipality of Medvedja.  

The Minister pointed out that the re-launch of the operation of “Jugokop”, which used to be a successful slaughterhouse and which is extremely important for the region of South Serbia, was also discussed.  

“That slaughterhouse is important because cattle breeders from South Serbia can’t easily sell their products on the market”, she said and recalled that the Minister of Economy Zeljko Sertic, who recently visited the region, promised to help with the issue.   

“There are Italian companies that are interested in joining the business and today I, on my part, promised that I would discuss the issue with Minister Sertic. I will also present the problem to the government, so that we could jointly help with re-starting the slaughterhouse’s operation,” Minister Bogosavljevic Boskovic said.  

“An Italian company is interested in renting the “Jugokop” slaughterhouse, while the goal of the relevant ministry and the Ministry of Economy is to offer a model of cooperation with the Italians as soon as possible, which would be a stimulus to further development of cattle-breeding in the area, which is extraordinary for breeding all kinds of farm animals, such as cows, sheep and goats”, she said.  

During the talks with representatives of the local self - governments from South Serbia, other issues related to the development of agriculture, environmental protection and regulation of watercourses were discussed, too. Also, the “Fontana” dairy at the village of Bukarevac was visited, which is largely financed from funds provided by the Coordination Body, which are in the form of subsidies and amount to 1.9 million dinars.   

The Minister said that she had also talked with the farmers who were interested in receiving subsidies, as well as about the issue of veterinary inspection. 

“Our hosts pointed out that they very much needed at least one veterinary inspector, who would be employed here on a permanent basis and who should be from the ranks of their compatriots, so that they could control the slaughter of animals, which is often done as part of a ritual and religious ceremonies”, she said.  

“Also, Kosovo and Metohija and the border with Macedonia are nearby, and that is one more reason to appoint a veterinary inspector here, who would guarantee and protect the uncontrolled importation or shipments of agricultural products from Macedonia and Kosovo and Metohija to this area, and who would be helpful to the population when it comes to slaughtering cattle”, said the Minister of Agriculture. 

During a meeting with the farmers from the municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, which took place at the “Abdula Krasnica” community center, the problems of tobacco producers from the region, which is traditionally known for a large production of top-quality tobacco, were discussed.

“However, in recent years, a problem with the placement of tobacco on the market has become noticeable, which is related to the earlier privatization of our tobacco factories”, said Minister Bogosavljevic Boskovic, adding that although tobacco growers from South Serbia had invested in that sort of production, knew it extremely well and wanted to continue dealing with it, they couldn’t sell their products on the market, so that they asked for assistance.   

“My associates and I promised them that I would talk about the issue with my colleagues in the government, with the Minister of Finance and with the Tobacco Directorate, and we’ll try to help these tobacco growers as much as we can”, the Minister of Agriculture said.  

The President of the Coordination Body for the Municipalities of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja, Zoran Stankovic, said that numerous problems of the local self-government and the farmers were analyzed during the visit to the private dairy and talks with over 50 farmers from the area.  Mr. Stankovic reiterated that the consequences of the previously signed agreements for the tobacco industry had been discussed, recalling that 3, 000 to 4, 000 tons of tobacco were once produced in the area, while only 100 tons were produced then and that the farmers didn’t know where to sell their excess products, due to which problems related to the smuggling of cut tobacco emerged.

“It was also agreed that the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance and the Tobacco Directorate should analyze how to place the excess tobacco on the market, given that only 40 acres of land were approved for planting tobacco last year, while only 20 acres of land were approved this year. All of this is very important for the development of agriculture, since this is an agricultural region where 70 percent of the area is used for growing crops," said Mr. Stankovic.

Source: “Tanjug” news agency, “Blic” daily, “FoNet” news agency and Coordination Body