J. Joksimović: EU funds are inseparable part of balanced regional development

October 23 2018 | Belgrade

J. Joksimović: EU funds are inseparable part of balanced regional development

Minister of European Integration Jadranka Joksimović, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Branislav Nedimović and Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi have awarded today project approvals to agricultural producers who have submitted applications to the IPARD public call for the purchase of new machinery and equipment.

Joksimović has said at the press conference that this shows all the benefits of Serbia being on the EU path and what the candidate country status entails, both in terms of obligations and benefits that all citizens can have.

She has recalled that Serbia, as a candidate country, has been using pre-accession IPA funds for years, and that there are other programmes used by students and small entrepreneurs.
"However, what is new and what we as the Government are proud of is the fact that since May this year, when I signed the IPARD Programme for Serbia, we have managed to secure grants for our farmers in the amount of EUR 175 million by 2020," Joksimović has said.

According to her, a significant amount of funds, with state co-financing and investments by farmers, of about EUR 400 million is available to our farmers by 2020, while EUR 175 million in grants have been allocated from European funds.

According to her, before 2014, the inaction of many previous governments prevented Serbian farmers from using these funds for several years.

Joksimović has said that this was indeed a difficult procedure, and that, inter alia, it was necessary to move the Directorate for Agrarian Payments from Šabac to Belgrade in order to obtain the funds for agricultural producers.
"The European market is a demanding market, we need to be ready to enter the European market tomorrow, and we need to make our agriculture more competitive and better," the Minister has said, adding that the project approvals awarded today have shown that our agricultural producers can prepare good applications, find funds for co-financing and do something concrete to acquire new equipment.
"As much as we have been dealing with negotiations and alignment of standards that are important for every area of our society, we have equally been working for years on raising awareness and informing our people that European funds are available to us - not to borrow, but to use what is available, and to have better training," Joksimović has said.

She has also stressed that the European funds are inseparable from balanced regional development, adding that, for this reason, her goal is for Serbia to both open new chapters and use the available funds, so that all parts of Serbia would evenly develop.
"Without a stronger and more competitive agriculture, we will not be ready for the race in such a demanding market as the European one," Joksimović has concluded.

Minister Nedimović has stated that the fourth public call for the acquisition and construction of physical assets has also been announced today, and has said that this new public call amounts to EUR 25 million, which is approximately the sum of all three previous calls together.

According to him, around EUR 3 million was allocated today, the largest two applications being at RSD 72 million and RSD 77 million, while the lowest amount of funds allocated was RSD 200,000.
“The fact is that, at the time of EU accession, agriculture is the area subject to most extensive adjustments,” Nedimović has said, adding that agriculture has benefited the most from the moment the IPARD funds became available.
"We had 502 applications in the previous three public calls, and there were also some that were not so good and were therefore rejected. We have been involved in this project for only six months now, and I think the situation will be getting better and better," Nedimović has said and announced that there will be another public call in early December, which will be the fifth one this year, and that he will try to accredit another two measures - the one regarding rural tourism and the one regarding technical assistance.

The Minister has also said that Serbia has fulfilled all conditions for the opening of Chapter 11 in negotiations with the EU.

Head of the EU Delegation to Serbia Sem Fabrizi has said that the EU wants to provide farmers with the right tools for their business, adding that the funds from the IPARD Programme will be used for better machinery, modernization and various tools farmers need, such as, for example, tractors, greenhouses, irrigation systems etc.
"The agriculture sector is an important sector in Serbia. You have to be more competitive. This sector is already successful; what's more, export from Serbia to the EU may even have been tripled. We hope that, in the long run, we will be able to make Serbian agriculture more resilient and more competitive," Fabrizi has said.

Source: Tanjug

 

 

 

 

Министар за европске интеграције Јадранка Јоксимовић, министар пољопривреде, шумарства и привреде Бранислав Недимовић и шеф Делегације ЕУ у Србији Сем Фабрици

 

 

Министар за европске интеграције Јадранка Јоксимовић, министар пољопривреде, шумарства и привреде Бранислав Недимовић и шеф Делегације ЕУ у Србији Сем Фабрици

 

 

Министар за европске интеграције Јадранка Јоксимовић

 

 

Министар за европске интеграције Јадранка Јоксимовић