Bujanovac

In addition to the Committee members and other MPs the sitting was also attended by Dragan Mirkovic, Assistant Minister of Agriculture and Environmental Protection for rural development, Nenad Budimovic on the behalf of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and farmers from the territory of the municipality of Bujanovac. The sitting was also attended by the president and vice-president of the municipality of Bujanovac, Shaip Kamberi and Stojance Arsic.

The Committee members agreed that investing into cattle farming in this area is of paramount importance since the municipality of Bujanovac has over 8000 heads of cattle. They said that more local self-government funds need to be allocated to expanding the livestock resources, laws and rulebooks concerning stimulation packages for marginal, undeveloped rural areas need to be amended, and also spoke about the need for commassation i.e. land consolidation, and to use state subsidies IPARD funds to expand the livestock resources. The participants of the discussion commended the Committee’s initiative and the executive’s decision to keep Bujanovac veterinary station in state ownership which has greatly helped the producers combat cattle diseases. Bujanovac has more than 25,000 ha of agricultural land partly under wheat, partly under fruit, which is a solid basis for the development of crop farming in the area. The problem plaguing the area is its very high unemployment rate - over 50%, so full use of the area’s potential with the state’s stimulation and special assistance programmes, would be truly significant for its reduction. The participants of the discussion also spoke about the use of IPARD funds, the administration and farmers’ lack of adequate preparation to withdraw the funds, re-export of agricultural produce, cooperatives and need for small agricultural producers to join forces, the SAA impact on Serbian agriculture, 3 billion RSD budget for rural development, which is much higher than previously. The farmers from the area of Bujanovac then briefed the Committee members on the problems they face.

Following a long discussion the Committee adopted the following conclusions by majority vote:

1. The Committee recommends that the stimulation packages for agriculture and processing industry be raised as much as possible within the limits;
2. The Committee recommends that the funds allocated for rural development in 2016 be dispensed to those who they are intended for and who applied for them as soon as possible, and pursuant to it, rulebooks need to be adjusted to the Ordinance;
3. The Committee recommends stricter phytosanitary and veterinary controls of agricultural products intended for export, especially those intended for the Russian and EU markets. At the proposal of Committee member Miroslav Aleksic, the Committee puts special emphasis on the re-export and measures preventing the re-export of fruit and vegetables from the EU onto the Russian Federation market;
4. The Committee recommends meeting, post haste, the conditions for the use of IPARD funds and in line with regulating the situation around the building, procedures, Law on Agriculture and completing employment. At the proposal of Committee member Prof. Dr Miladin Sevarlic the Committee emphasised the information on the reasons why the Directorate for Agrarian Payments was not accredited and on the planned activities of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection for a speedy creation of conditions to accredit the Directorate for Agrarian Payments and call a competition for the use of IPARD funds;
5. The Committee recommends focusing maximum attention on family agricultural households, especially small agricultural households in devastated areas, to encourage association of agricultural producers for a more efficient production and use of stimulation packages.

The Committee held the sitting outside of the National Assembly seat, in Bujanovac, with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), via project Strengthening the Oversight Role and Transparency of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.

The sitting was attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Radovan Jancic, Prof. Dr Miladin Sevarlic, Dr Ljubinko Rakonjac, Milija Miletic, Tijana Davidovac, Zarko Bogatinovic, Marko Gavrilovic, Zvonimir Djokic, Marko Milenkovic, Velimir Stanojevic, Arpad Fremond and Miroslav Aleksic.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairman Marijan Risticevic.