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Protests, sale of Imlek and the oldest brewery in Serbia – 2025 Retrospective, investments in AGRICULTURE AND FOOD INDUSTRY

Source: eKapija

Tuesday, 27.01.2026.

14:05

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(Photo: Darla Hueske/Unsplash)

For the agricultural sector, 2025 was a difficult year, full of challenges and uncertainties. Waves of protests affected arable farming, dairy farming and fruit growing, due to drought, the yields of many crops were reduced, so some farms and corporations were forced to close or announce an auction.

However, there were also good investments - Imlek and the oldest brewery in Serbia were sold, Delta announced the purchase of the meat company Food Star Plus, and Belgrade acquired the largest Food market.

Last year, blueberries were awarded the title of "blue diamond", as their exports generated USD 31 million.

For domestic scientists, this was a year of challenges, in which they, together with world experts, pushed the boundaries.

In cooperation with an institute from South Korea, quantum agriculture was developed in Serbia, while hybrid meat products, "signed" by our scientists, have conquered the German market.

Find out more details below - we bring you the ten most read texts in 2025 from the field of agriculture and the food industry.

1. Hybrid meat products from Zemun to the world - Scientists around the world are trying to find a solution for producing food that is as cheap as possible, that is nutritionally valuable and safe, and Serbian experts from the Institute of Animal Husbandry in Zemun have succeeded in doing so.

(Photo: yamix/shutterstock.com)

They have founded a "spin-off" company whose products are based on combining traditional meat products with innovative, sustainable technology of so-called hybrid meat products.

Assistant Director for Science at the Institute of Animal Husbandry, Dr. Nikola Stanisic, says that these are products that combine meat with plant components, in a larger ratio than usual.

- Such products have a reduced amount of meat, therefore, a smaller carbon footprint, and the plant components provide nutritional satisfaction of the product quality, while maintaining the characteristic taste, smell, texture and appearance to which consumers are accustomed - explains Dr. Stanisic.

He notes that two German companies have already purchased the technology developed at the Institute, which has fulfilled the task of the "spin-off" concept - to combine knowledge and market demands, and to return the money invested in science to the budget through the economy.

2. Imlek sold to Serbian entrepreneurs - The family investment holding of entrepreneur and investor Andrej Jovanovic and Bojan Radun, manager, bought Imlek from the MidEuropa fund.

(Photo: Shutterstock/bibiphoto)

The Imlek company from Padinska Skela (Belgrade) also owns two dairies in North Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and purchases milk from more than 3,500 farmers, processing almost 400 million liters of raw milk annually.

Jovanovic and Radun said after the takeover that Imlek had enormous potential for further growth and innovation.

- Imlek is an outstanding company with a long tradition, strong brands and exceptional people - said Bojan Radun, CEO of Imlek. - In partnership with Andrej Jovanovic, I am confident that we can unlock additional value and further strengthen Imlek's position as the most trusted dairy brand in Serbia and the region.

The transaction is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2026.

3. Delta buys Food star plus - The company Yuhor, owned by Delta Holding, intends to buy a slaughterhouse registered for the processing and preservation of poultry meat, Food Star Plus.

Food Star Plus was founded in 2014. The majority owner, which owns 99.99% of the shares, is Meat Processing Consulting. The remaining parts of a total of 0.01% are shared by Mario Stojanovic and Nikola Milisavljevic.

In 2024, the company generated 2.8 billion dinars in revenue. Delta Holding bought Yuhor in 2004.

4. Lider new owner of Vrsacka pivara - Vrsacka pivara, which is considered the oldest brewery in Serbia, was bought, from bankruptcy, by the Pancevo company Lider for a price of 75.47 million dinars.

(Photo: Kirill Z/shutterstock.com)

The assets of the beer and juice factory from Vrsac, consisting of production halls, equipment, stocks of raw materials and packaging, as well as a 0.78% stake in the capital of the Belgrade company Pivare i sladare and shares in Milenijum from Vrsac with a nominal value of around 26 million dinars, were also offered for sale.

At the previous auction, the starting price for the Vrsac brewery was 137.32 million dinars, but there were no buyers.

Vrsac brewery has been in bankruptcy since 2010.

5. Crvenka buys the company 7. juli - The company Crvenka Fabrika secera d.o.o. bought Drustveno preduzece za proizvodnju i usluge 7. juli, which was in bankruptcy.

Crvenka set aside 37,985,376 dinars for this transaction at a public auction. The company 7. juli had been in bankruptcy since 2010.

6. Amelo announces corn processing plant in Sremska Mitrovica - The Amelo company, which operates within the Trans Oil group, will build a corn processing plant on the site of the former Sugar Mill in Sremska Mitrovica, announced Mayor Branislav Nedimovic.

(Photo: Elena Schweitzer/shutterstock.com)

Works on the construction of the factory were supposed to begin in the fall of 2025, and the value of the investment exceeds EUR 30 million.

The final product will be corn starch, which will be used in the food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, and Nedimovic said that this was one of the largest investments in the food industry in the past 40 to 50 years.

The Trans Oil group has five oilseed processing plants - three in Moldova, one in Romania and one in Serbia.

7. Farmina Pet Foods investing EUR 20 million - The Farmina Pet Foods factory in Indjija, one of the largest European pet food manufacturers and the company's largest production facility in the world, will invest an additional EUR 20 million by 2027 in expanding production capacity and introducing new lines for dental snacks for dogs and creams for cats.

(Photo: Pixabay / Gentle Dog Trainers)

The company currently exports 97% of its production, and products from Indjija are present in the markets of Europe, the USA, Canada, Brazil, Chile, the Middle East, Russia, and Japan.

The company has been operating in Serbia since 2010, has so far invested more than EUR 50 million and employed more than 400 workers, and its annual revenues exceed EUR 170 million.

8. Majevica mechanization for the African market - The company Majevica from Backa Palanka announced its entry into international markets, with a special focus on African countries, where Serbian industry was once present.

At the ceremony marking the company's 120th anniversary, director Radovan Komad pointed out that Majevica now produced more than 150 different implements and three types of tractors and planned to further develop its production program.

The company received support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management for its entry into the foreign market.

9. Development of the first district of excellence for hazelnuts - Minister of Agriculture Dragan Glamocic announced the formation of a working group for the development of the first district of excellence for hazelnuts in West Backa.

- We want the district of excellence to become a model for other branches of agriculture - fruit growing, dairy farming, viticulture. Serbia has the knowledge, land and people, and now we are building a system that will last for decades - said Glamocic and announced that the plan was to increase hazelnut production in Serbia to 40,000 tons in the next ten years.

(Photo: Pixabay / wojtekspool)

The largest part of production is in Vojvodina 44%, followed by southern and eastern Serbia with 24% and Sumadija and western Serbia with 23%.

Last year, around 1,800 tons of hazelnuts worth EUR 5.7 million were exported.

10. Serbian tractor assembly factories in Zambia - Several private companies from Serbia are in the process of establishing tractor assembly and fertilizer production factories in Zambia.

(Photo: Pixabay.com/3345557)

Serbian Ambassador to Zambia Jasna Zrnovic said that Serbian companies wanted to train Zambian experts in tractor assembly and fertilizer production before the factories were built.

She stated that funds for the factories had already been secured, and that those who would work in the plants would receive training and capacity building in Serbia.

We invite you to see which investments marked 2025 in the areas of REAL ESTATE, TRADE CENTERS and TRANSPORT.

Companies:

Imlek a.d. Padinska Skela

Institut za stočarstvo Beograd

AJFH

Delta Holding d.o.o. Beograd

YUHOR AD Jagodina

FOOD STAR PLUS DOO BEOGRAD

Lider izgradnja doo Pančevo

Pivara a.d.Vršac

7 JULI CRVENKA

Crvenka fabrika šećera a.d. Crvenka

Amelo doo Šid

Farmina pet foods d.o.o. Inđija

Majevica Holding a.d. Bačka Palanka

Agriserbia doo Aleksa Šantić

Tags:

Institute of Animal Husbandry Zemun

Crvenka Fabrika šećera doo

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