Italians invest EUR 30 million in organic hazelnut production in Negotin

Italian company Rigoni di Asiagio is going to organize organic hazelnut production on 190 hectares in the Negotin municipality. This investment will total between 20 and 30 million euro.

The company from Italy plans to increase the size of land under rent in that area to 3,000 hectares in the future, and an initial lease agreement for state-owned agricultural land was signed Tuesday between Andrea Rigoni, the general manager of that company, and Serbian Agriculture Minister Snezana Bogosavljevic Boskovic.

Rigoni announced that their plan was to also grow other kinds of fruits in that area in the years to come, such as apricot, cherry, raspberry...

When asked how big investment can be expected, he said that the company had, for example, invested EUR 25 million in Bulgaria over the past ten years.

Serbian agriculture minister stressed the importance of this investment for the entire Serbian agriculture sector, reminding that the expansion of organic production in Serbia was one of strategic goals.
Mrs. Bogosavljevic Boskovic noted that in addition to expanding planted areas, building processing plants in that region and exporting products all around the world were also in the pipeline.

She added that the Italian investment was also significant for local agricultural manufacturers who would be able to find partners for their organic production and further expand it.

According to her, it is important to attract such investments not only to Negotin, but also to the entire Bor Region.

Negotin Mayor Jovan Milovanovic reminded that agricultural land accounts for 65% of that municipality's territory, adding that that area had exceptional conditions for the development of agriculture and manufacturing production.

Milovanovic underlined that the lease agreement for state-owned agricultural land with Rigoni di Asiagio was signed for a period of 20 years, with the possibility of extending it for another 20 years, noting that the annual rent for those 190 hectares would be EUR 65,000.

By the way, a total of 27 lease agreements for 630 hectares of state-owned agricultural land had been signed Tuesday in the municipality building in Negotin.

The municipality of Negotin has so far rented out a total of 2,700 hectares of state-owned arable land.

Rigoni di Asiago S.r.l.

Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede Republike Srbije

Rigoni di Asiagio

organic hazelnut production

hazelnut

hazelnuts

Andrea Rigoni

Snezana Bogosavljevic Boskovic

apricot

cherry

raspberry

Jovan Milovanovic

agricultural land

growing hazelnuts in Serbia