Serbia's agriculture exports worth €3.8 billion

Serbian agriculture exports worth €3.8 billion

According to data from the Republic Statistical Office (RZS), Serbia exported agricultural products worth €3.8 billlion by the end of October this year, while during the same period, it imported food valued at €2.7 billion. Regarding the quantity, 3.8 billion tons of goods were exported, and 1.4 billion tons of various agricultural and food products were imported.

In the specified period, Serbia imported over 3,600 tons of live animals and exported 15,000 tons. On the other hand, it imported 68,000 tons of meat and meat products while exporting 23,000 tons to the global market. The export of cereals and cereal products was 1.5 million tons, while the imports amounted to only 104,000 tons.

Regarding agricultural products, Serbia primarily imports fruits and vegetables, totaling 467,000 tons, followed by beverages at 155,000 tons, and animal feed at 111,000 tons. The most significant export products are vegetables and fruits, with an export value of over €870 million, followed by cereals at €562 million, tobacco and tobacco products at €450 million, beverages at €395 million, animal feed at €322 million, with the smallest being the export of animal products, oils, and fats at €4.12 million. Regarding imports, the highest spending was on fruits and vegetables (€526 million), coffee, tea, cocoa, spices (€305 million), ready-made food products, and processed goods at €253 million.

Serbia takes over CEFTA presidency from Montenegro

During the CEFTA Week 2023 in Podgorica, Montenegro formally handed over the presidency of the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) to Serbia. "The significance of the CEFTA market for the Serbian economy is immense.

CEFTA is Serbia's second-largest trading partner, contributing to over 18% of the country's total trade, emphasized Serbian Minister of Internal and External Trade Tomislav Momirovic. He said that Serbia's presidency would primarily focus on consolidating and strengthening the implementation of agreements, working to intensify trade exchanges among CEFTA signatory countries.

Minister Momirovic added that priorities for the organization would also include digitalization and electronic commerce. According to him, economic cooperation based on the EU standards and principles within the CEFTA mechanism is yielding results in terms of economic activity growth, trade, and the creation of new and better jobs. "The Serbian government and the Ministry of Trade firmly believe that free economic regional cooperation is of utmost importance. This is evident from the fact that, in the first nine months of this year, Serbia achieved close to five billion euros in trade with CEFTA" emphasized the Minister of Trade.

Serbia to get first “bio-district”

A bio-district is an area where local producers, institutions, associations, tourism organizations, hospitality owners and customers come together – in order to most efficiently use and manage local resources and exploit local potentials. Whereas this concept of sustainable development is already implemented in the wider world, locally, this has been a topic that has only been discussed in the past year.

Serbia is now on its way to becoming the first country in Southeast Europe in which a bio-district is to be formed. In Serbia, organic production on a more serious scale has been developing in the past fifteen years. Even so, organic production is done on barely 1% of the arable land. In the past year, incentives for organic plant production have increased 250% compared to the basic incentives in plant production to 31,500 RSD per hectare.

On the first day of the new year, the German Organization for International Cooperation (GIZ) is launching the Green Economy project which will help small and medium enterprises in Serbia to meet a large number of standards and regulations of the EU in green transformation. The first bio-district in Serbia is to be formed in the Kolubara District, reports the national broadcaster RTS1.

MK Group plans new investments in the coming period

In the upcoming period, MK Group plans significant investments in all sectors in which it operates. The largest investments are expected in the renewable energy sources (RES) segment, with plans for expanding banking operations in both Serbia and the region, as well as further development in the hotel business, said the Vice President of MK Group, Aleksandar Kostić, at this year's CEO Summit held in Belgrade.

MK Group will invest €1.6 billion in the next three years, and in a period of five years will allocate €50 million for donations to the community. The company's investments in agriculture would amount to €350 million by 2026. The investment of €33 million in the alcohol factory in Kovacica stands out, thanks to which Serbia will become an exporter of alcohol for the first time.   

Kostić also announced significant investments in the companies Sunoko and Carnex. Energy, specifically renewable energy sources, is the sector where MK Group will invest the most, announced Kostić. He added that up to €900 million would be directed to green energy projects, with a total capacity of 1 GW. The first project that will be completed this year, a wind farm in Krivaca, Eastern Serbia, and two new wind farms and a biogas plant are being built in Vojvodina, as well as the first agro-solar project in the Balkans.

30 million liters of wine are produced in Serbia annually

Serbia has nearly 20,000 hectares under vineyards, producing around 30 million liters of wine annually, and wine producers believe that the potential exists to increase production to 70 million liters. There are 80,000 agricultural households engaged in grape cultivation, of which 47,120 are registered in the Agricultural Register of the Ministry of Agriculture, reported Tanjug.

Last year, there were more than 450 registered wine producers in Serbia. The growing consumer interest in wine and the favorable situation with wine exports have led to an increase in the number of wine-makers, with many new small wineries entering the market. Ferenc Brindza, a winemaker from Bačka Topola, stated that the recent wine fair in Belgrade - Wine Vision, was a good opportunity for winemakers to showcase their products. According to him, there is a lot of interest in trying different wines, and the Wine Vision fair provides winemakers with the opportunity to showcase both their knowledge and craftsmanship.

Wine-makers point out that although Serbia exports wine worth €21 million, imports are higher, reaching €36.8 million. The competition is intense, so wineries are increasingly focusing on packaging and overall branding. The result is domestic wines with modern minimalist designs and labels featuring iconic symbols such as the Statue of Liberty, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Big Ben, and more. Producers believe that this approach will contribute to the continued growth of production and exports, which increased by 25% compared to 2021.

New payment system for pig and veal carcasses

The twinning project "Support for the establishment of a carcass classification system in accordance with the EU Common Agricultural Policy " was implemented by the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture and supported by EU project partners from Spain and Latvia. Throughout the twinning project, Serbia made substantial progress in developing and implementing a carcass classification system that aligns with the EU's Common Agricultural Policy. This effort has far-reaching implications for Serbia's agriculture industry, including improved quality control, enhanced market access, and increased competitiveness in the European market.

The project’s purpose was the training of veterinarians to classify pig and veal carcasses based on the percentage of meat at the slaughtering line. In countries where animal husbandry is well developed, the meat/fat ratio or percentage of meat in pigs and cattle has been the main method for payment for animals, while in Serbia, the animals are paid according to their weight. According to Professor Ivan Radovic, from the Faculty of Agriculture in Novi Sad, next year will be a transitional period, and the new way of payment will be implemented from 2025. All slaughterhouses that slaughter more than 500 pigs and 40 cattle per week will be obliged to start working and paying in accordance with the new system writes daily Dnevnik.

New call for IPARD 3 funds in January 2024         

It was communicated earlier by the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture that the first call for IPARD 3 funds would take place in the fall 2023. That decision was postponed and the new call for disbursement of funds through  IPARD 3 program has been announced for the beginning of 2024. More on the IPARD 3 program here.

The Director of the Paying Agency, Ms Sanja Danilovic, announced that within the IPARD 2 program, there has been a high approval rate for projects, with a total of €30 million disbursed to farmers so far. As stated at the website of the Ministry of Agriculture, during the second session of the IPARD monitoring committee, the Director presented the results of the IPARD 2 program and preparations for the upcoming IPARD 3 program cycle. The approval rate for projects within the IPARD 2 program is currently 95% of the total available budget. The focus for this year has been on funding disbursement, and the administration expects to disburse an additional five million euros by the end of the year, making it a record-breaking figure. The total expected disbursement is €35 million throughout the previous period from 2019 to 2022.

The best Farmer of Serbia selected

“The best farmer of Serbia” was a national competition initiated by the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Serbian Ministry of Agriculture for the selection of the best farmers in different sub-sectors like: animal husbandry, field crop production, vegetable production, fruit production and organic agriculture.  The final event was organized on December 11^th  and Mr. Milos Cvetkov was selected to be The best farmer 2023. Mr Cvetkov is a dairy farmer from Dimitrovgrad, a small town on the border with Bulgaria with a farm of 110 dairy cattle and production of 2 tons of milk per day. The total prize fund for selected categories was 7 million RSD (€60 thousand) and Mr. Cvetkov won the main prize of 2 million RSD (€17,000 eur). Minister of Agriculture Jelena Tanaskovic stated that 2023 was not an easy year for farmers but the Ministry showed understanding for the situation of farmers and almost doubled the subsidy scheme for different subsectors. Climate change is definitely an aspect that will influence agriculture production in the future and we all need to be aware of it.