Kurir Go International magazine 006

We are working
on irrigation
> What has Serbia done to improve the position
of farmers and what still needs to be
done?
- The budget this year is a third higher
than in 2011, while traditional subsidies
have increased by 20% (from 18.5 billion dinars
to 22 billion). The greatest problem facing
agricultural production is that our farmers
have a lack of ready cash. As such, this
year we have placed as much as 80 million litres
of reasonably priced fuel at the disposal
of farmers for spring work. Since 17 th April
farmers have also been receiving advanced
payments of production subsidies. They
are offered the cheapest loans currently
available for all aspects of production. The
situation is better than it was. In addition
to these measures, however, the state also
has to improve the capacity of agricultural
production in terms of infrastructure. The
main project is irrigation. We have 4.2 million
hectares of arable agricultural land, but
less than 200,000 hectares is irrigated, which
is one of the lowest percentages of irrigated
land in Europe. Our plan is to reach a level of
1.1 million hectares of irrigated land over the
next four years. People will be able to buy irrigation
equipment through a combination
of cheap loans and grant assistance. The PIS
(forecasting and reporting service) project
was launched just a few days ago, which will
identify biological changes. Through this we
will earn more than €300 million annually,
which is the entire budget for agriculture. We
have also signed agreements with Bosnia,
Montenegro and Macedonia, which will promote
trade.
We are continuing
on the same route
> What do you expect after the elections in
Serbia?
- I am certain that the “Choice for a better
life - Boris Tadić” coalition will gain the trust of
citizens to make the key decisions of public
and political life. After the elections we will
form a government that will have the same
political goals as we have followed during these
four years: for the country to approach the EU
as quickly as possible and for national interests
to be protected - above all territorial integrity
when it comes to Kosovo.
> How useful for our country is the combining
of parliamentary and presidential elections?
- With fewer costs we will complete the entire
political process in a very short period
of time. This is a question of making crucial
savings in the sense that our economy will not
be exposed to two election campaigns, rather
we all complete everything in one go.
MAY 2012
09