So Far, No Results in Negotiations Between Government and Agriculturists – Next Meeting on December 26

The meeting between agriculturists and representatives of the Government of Serbia was finished without any concrete results, the president of the Initiative for the Survival of Agriculturists of Serbia, Goran Filipovic, said for the Vreme weekly and added that a new meeting was scheduled for December 26. As he said, at that meeting, it will be presented what is meant for each of the industries in the agriculture budget, and over 60 associations have announced that they will attend the meeting.

– Nothing special happened at today’s meeting. We mostly talked about how to solve the problems of the credits that agriculturists have taken out. We were told that the National Bank of Serbia was to be consulted about what could be done about it. We are coming to that meeting on December 26. Trust me, it will be like a reality TV show – Filipovic said.

He said that he couldn’t agree with the assessment that the negotiations had failed.

– We will see what they tell us at the meeting – Filipovic says.

The talks between the representatives of agriculturists and the Government of Serbia started on November 26 in Kisac after a nine-day road blocking.

The agriculturists demand the fulfilment of the agreement regarding the increase of subsidies and the payment deadline, the increase of areas for subsidies from 20 hectares to 100 hectares, the exemption from the diesel fuel excise tax and the commodities exchange regulation and for the problem of securing the loans for the refinancing of debts to be solved.

– Due to the drought-stricken years, many agriculturists have debts and are registered at the credit bureau, which prevents them from taking out a new loan – Filipovic said.

He also said that the offer of the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund for the writing off of the interest for agriculturists who accept to pay the debt for the contribution for pensions insurance in 60 installments was also discussed.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Narodna banka Srbije Beograd

Republički Fond za penzijsko i invalidsko osiguranje

Inicijativa za opstanak poljoprivrednika Srbije

Government of Serbia

National Bank of Serbia

Pension and Disability Insurance Fund

Initiative for the Survival of Agriculturists of Serbia

Goran Filipovic

agriculturists

negotiations

credits

loans

Kisac

road blocking

subsidies

diesel fuel

excise taxes

commodities exchange