Serbian agriculture gets EUR 180 million from IPARD program

Serbian farmers will have EUR 180 million at disposal to improve agricultural competition within IPARD 2 program (IPA Rural Development), as a pre-access help of EU.

Program will be implemented from 2015 to 2020 and is intended for direct users – agricultural producers and processors, as well as those operating in rural tourism, said Dragan Markovic, Adviser on Rural Development in the Ministry for Agriculture an Environmental Protection, at the presentation of the program.

As it is said at the meeting in Serbian Chamber of Commerce, European Committee should adopt and approve IPARD 2 program, process of accreditation should be completed during 2013, while the calls for the use of funds should be announced at the beginning of 2016.

According to State Secretary at Ministry for Agriculture Danilo Golubovic, Serbian agriculture has to get ready for a demanding EU market, to be competitive and eager for great challenges.

As Golubovic recalled, 75% of EU legislation refers to agriculture and ecology, which imposes hard tasks and challenges for the Serbian Ministry for Agriculture and Environmental Protection.

Secretary of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Association for Agriculture Nenad Budimovic expects the chamber, as the biggest association of Serbian economy, to have an active role in IPARD 2 program implementation.