03/2019
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42 S e r b i a Agriculture Bulletin Digitization: the next step for agriculture RSD 520 million allocated for better agricultural land management EU project to boost Serbian SME competitiveness
Organic production, exports on the rise
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Contents State Initiatives ........................................................................................................... 2 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6)
Digitization: the next step for agriculture ....................................................................................... 2 Simplified procedures for importing fresh fruits and vegetables ................................................... 2 Agricultural guarantee competition in Vojvodina announced ........................................................ 2 RSD 520 million allocated for better agricultural land management.............................................. 2 350 new cooperatives established in two years ............................................................................. 3 Government approves RSD 2 billion for diesel fuel subsidies ......................................................... 3
Foreign Aid ................................................................................................................. 3 7)
EU project to boost Serbian SME competitiveness ......................................................................... 3
Private Sector.............................................................................................................. 3 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13)
Organic production, exports on the rise ......................................................................................... 3 Serbian beef exports double ........................................................................................................... 4 Serbia’s transition from potato exporter to potato importer ......................................................... 4 Al Dahra to invest EUR 15 million in PKB ......................................................................................... 4 Subsidized small business support loans now available ................................................................. 5 Decline in Serbian livestock numbers alarming............................................................................... 5
Note: The Agriculture Bulletin presents a monthly roundup of headlines and news stories related to Serbia’s agricultural sector. This bulletin is prepared by Business & Finance Consulting—a Swiss-based development finance consulting company. Read more »
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BFC Agriculture Bulletin
State Initiatives 1)
Digitization: the next step for agriculture
March 28th, 2019, https://www.kamatica.com/vest/digitalizaciji-se-najvise-odupiru-u-poljoprivredi/58262
Digitization has become a key buzzword across the world and across a wide spectrum of industries. Agriculture, however, has been one of the more resistant industries to widely-accept digitization, especially among small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises. This is slowly starting to change, with examples of agricultural digitization finding success and becoming an example for others. Moreover, the Chamber of Commerce has begun a campaign to help companies develop a digital strategy. This push from the Chamber of Commerce is backed by expert consultants from Digital Transformation Center, who are leading companies through the unknown and scary (to them) process of going digital. To date, a total of 40 companies have gone through the program and started on the path of digitization.
2)
Simplified procedures for importing fresh fruits and vegetables
March 21st, 2019, http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/425554/Pojednostavljene-procedure-ubrzale-uvoz-svezeg-voca-i-povrca
The implementation of the Ordinance on the Establishment of the Food Safety Monitoring Program for Animal and Animal Foods is expected to result in simplified procedures for sampling imported foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. This, in turn, will lead to a reduction in the amount of time needed for sampling, thereby helping facilitate a smoother importation process. Additionally, the introduction of the e-Inspector concept will allow Serbian food monitoring efforts to be linked to a central database that houses all current and historical food safety data. The rapid flow of information from the implementation of the e-Inspector concept will reduce food safety risks, make communication easier and increase transparency.
3)
Agricultural guarantee competition in Vojvodina announced
March 15th, 2019, http://garfond.rs/2019/03/19/%D1%84%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%B8%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%9A%D0%B 5-%D0%BF%D0%BE%D1%99%D0%BE%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%B2%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%B5-%D1%83%D0%B7%D0%BF%D0%BE%D0%B4%D1%80%D1%88%D0%BA%D1%83/
The Vojvodina Chamber of Commerce has announced a competition for the approval of loan guarantees intended for investments in agriculture under the IPARD program. The Chamber also announced the extension of the competition for loan guarantees for the construction, reconstruction, extension and adaptation of facilities for performing economic and agricultural activities as well as for the purchase of accompanying equipment.
4)
RSD 520 million allocated for better agricultural land management
March 15th, 2019, http://www.stips.minpolj.gov.rs/srl/vest/za-kvalitetnije-poljoprivredno-zemljiste-520-miliona-dinara
The government of Serbia has adopted a decree for the protection, arrangement and use of agricultural land for 2019. To this end, the Ministry of Agriculture has been allocated RSD 520 million to carry out land consolidation, improve the quality of arable land, provide new irrigation means and perform research towards these aims. Page 2
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5)
350 new cooperatives established in two years
March 7th, 2019, http://purecutdesign.net/agrosmart.net/index.php/vesti/raste-broj-zadruga-dve-godine-350-novih.html
The government of Serbia has taken a number of measures, including financial ones, to help establish and support cooperatives in the country. Although direct government financial support has only been given to approximately 100 cooperatives, nearly 350 cooperatives have been formed in the past two years, demonstrating the popularity of the cooperative concept among the population. The government hopes that a functioning cooperative will eventually be established in each village to support local residents and rural development.
6)
Government approves RSD 2 billion for diesel fuel subsidies
March 1st, 2019, https://www.danas.rs/ekonomija/pocele-prijave-poljoprivrednika-za-subvenciju-za-gorivo/
The government of Serbia has allocated RSD 2 billion for diesel fuel subsidies for farmers. Under the subsidy scheme, 60 liters of diesel per hectare will be subsidized at a rate of RSD 20 per liter. A maximum of 20 hectares may claimed under the scheme. Farmers will automatically receive the subsidy based on hectare information the government already has. Farmers, although happy to see the subsidy return after three years, believe that the measure will not significantly impact production.
Foreign Aid 7)
EU project to boost Serbian SME competitiveness
March 13th, 2019, https://www.ebrd.com/news/2019/competitiveness-boost-for-smes-in-serbia-.html
Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Serbia will have a chance to improve their competitiveness, efficiency and export performance thanks to the newly launched ‘EU for Serbia – EBRD SME Advisory Support’ program. The program will help boost competitiveness and build the capacity of Serbian SMEs through the use of tailored advisory support and coaching by local consultants and international advisors. Specifically, SMEs will have an opportunity to receive a wide range of advisory services, including in quality standards, marketing strategy, financial analysis, business plan development and management information system introduction. The program is being supported by the European Union (EU) with EUR 2 million from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance.
Private Sector 8)
Organic production, exports on the rise
March 25th, 2019, http://www.politika.rs/scc/clanak/425818/Raste-izvoz-organske-hrane-iz-Srbije
Organic production in Serbia is on the rise, with organic production in 2017 taking place on 13,500 hectares (0.4% of arable land in Serbia) and organic exports that same year amounting to EUR 24 million. To help further the organic potential of the country, the national organization Serbia Organics has partnered with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to create a database of organic producers. The database currently has information on approximately 100 individual Page 3
BFC Agriculture Bulletin
organic producers, including information on their organic certification; however, much work is yet to be done for the database to be fully-effective as an estimated 6,500 organic producers are active in Serbia. The most prominent Serbian organic products include cereals, fruits, vegetables and herbs. Currently, most organic products are exported as raw materials; however, the country is making strides to support the further growth of the industry through various government-supported initiatives, including the Serbia Organics-USAID database.
9)
Serbian beef exports double
March 18th, 2019, http://www.tanjug.rs/full-view_en.aspx?izb=468064
Serbian beef exports have been on a constant increase over the past four years, doubling in 2018 as compared to 2017. As would be expected, revenue from beef exports has also risen drastically from EUR 5 million in 2015 and EUR 7.77 million in 2016 to EUR 13.13 million in 2017 and EUR 29 million in 2018. The extension of a free trade agreement with Turkey, which included higher quotas for beef, has been an important development in this regard. In addition to Turkey, the European Union (EU) and China are the largest importers of Serbian beef.
10) Serbia’s transition from potato exporter to potato importer March 15th, 2019, https://www.021.rs/story/Info/Biznis-i-ekonomija/210234/Od-znacajnog-izvoznika-krompira-u-Rumuniju-iBugarsku-Srbija-postala-znacajan-uvoznik.html
Serbia has transitioned from a significant potato exporter (mostly to Bulgaria and Romania) to a significant potato importer (mostly from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands). The average annual production for Serbian potatoes is 400,000 tons on an area of 28,000 hectares, or approximately 14 tons per year per hectare. This, however, is not enough to satisfy demand as 30,000 tons of potatoes were imported last year. The problem is two-fold. On the one hand, Serbian average yields are relatively low compared to world standards. On the other hand, Serbia has now also lost many export markets. Both of these stem from Serbia failing to adapt to modern production techniques, including the planting new varieties that have larger average yields.
11) Al Dahra to invest EUR 15 million in PKB March 6th, 2019, https://www.ekapija.com/en/news/2426063/al-dahra-to-invest-eur-15-million-in-pkb-by-end-april
According to a 2018 agreement between the company Al Dahra and the government of Serbia, AL Dahra is obligated to invest a total of EUR 30 million into newly-acquired PKB within three years. After only six months, however, the company has announced an initial investment of EUR 15 million, which will be made by the end of April. This investment will be used to replaced outdated equipment and make other similar improvements to PKB production capacity. In total, PKB operates 17,500 hectares of agricultural land spread over eight farms. The company grows various crops on these farms, including sugar beet, sunflower, wheat, corn, barley, animal feed and several types of vegetables. Al Dahra purchased PKB for slightly over EUR 105 million in October 2018.
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12) Subsidized small business support loans now available March 6th, 2019, http://www.agronews.rs/subvencionisani-krediti-za-nabavku-opreme-credit-agricole-banke/
Loans under the ‘Small Business Support Program’ are now available at Credit Agricole Bank for the procurement of production equipment and special tools. Under the terms of the program, 18-60-month loans are granted at very favorable fixed interest rates with a state subsidy of 25%. The ‘Small Business Support Program’ is implemented by the Ministry of Economy in cooperation with the Development Agency of Serbia.
13) Decline in Serbian livestock numbers alarming March 1st, 2019, http://www.stips.minpolj.gov.rs/srl/vest/stanje-u-srpskom-stocarstvu-alarmantno
According to official data, Serbia has hit a historical low in number of cattle in the country, the culmination of a steady two-decade decline. Currently, there are an estimated 878,000 cattle in Serbia, 2.3% lower than in 2017. At the same time, there are an estimated had 2.79 million pigs in the country, a 4.1% year-on-year decline and the smallest number since 1955. There has, however, been an increase in sheep, which now number around 1.71 million. Serbia also has approximately 16.2 million poultry birds. The overall decline in livestock numbers is somewhat worrying, especially given the importance of livestock production to the share of agricultural GDP.
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Prepared by Business & Finance Consulting (BFC) www.bfconsulting.com Articles are taken directly from local sources without any fact-checking; they are provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only. Business & Finance Consulting (BFC)’s editing is limited to providing a short summary in English of the texts, highlighting the main points of the original articles. All rights reserved by the authors. BFC takes no responsibility and does not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, or assume any responsibility whatsoever for the content, accuracy, and reliability, or completeness of any of the articles.