Agricultural entrepreneurship through increasing production, meeting high standards of processing and creating new jobs contributes to the improvement of everyday life of citizens, assessed the ambassador of the European Union (EU) in Montenegro, Aivo Orav.
When visiting entrepreneurs in Podgorica, Golubovci and Tuzi, who are beneficiaries of non-refundable support through the IPARD like program, with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Milutin Simović, he said that he was impressed by the concrete results of EU support for Montenegrin entrepreneurs in the field of agriculture and food processing.
The Ministry announced that a total of 14 companies from the area invested more than 1,25 million euros, with a potential grant of 535 euros. The EU provided three quarters of the money, while one was allocated from the national budget.
Simović assessed that Montenegrin agriculture, with the generous support of the EU and the Government, with the dedicated and hard work of hard-working householders and entrepreneurs, is making strong progress and is increasingly being recognized as a chance for profitable business.
"Before the realization of these investments, 14 employees worked in 59 companies and 2,06 thousand subcontractors were directly connected with them. "With the realization of these investments, in addition to improving competitiveness, 21 new jobs have been opened, as well as new opportunities for expanding the subcontractor network," said Simović.
He said that he was encouraged by the new, modern processing capacities, the achieved standards of quality and food safety, the increase in the volume of production and the improvement of competitiveness.
The Ministry has announced that 87 million euros will be invested through the implementation of the large IPARD with non-refundable support of 39 million euros from EU pre-accession funds and around 11 million euros from the national budget. 430 interested parties applied for the two published calls.
Orav assessed that the interest in IPARD exceeded expectations, which shows that farmers are ready to accept the challenges of modernization and development, which is why life in rural areas has a future in Montenegro.
"The large number of applications, however, required more effort and time for contracting, so I would encourage the national authorities to make an effort to process applications faster, in order to publish new calls and ensure the full absorption of IPARD funds," said Orav.
He announced that he was satisfied that he was convinced on the ground that Montenegrin agricultural producers benefited from EU investments, which will contribute to the development of the overall Montenegrin economy and the lives of citizens.
Orav called on all farmers in Montenegro, especially young ones, to apply for the next IPARD calls.
"It might not always be easy, but based on what I've seen in the last two days - it's worth it," Orav said.
The mayor of Podgorica, Ivan Vuković, said that the IPARD program is slowly but surely changing the face of Montenegro, especially rural areas.
"In recent years, the trend is changing and people are returning to the countryside, which represents the most important comparative advantage of Montenegro, because our villages represent untouched nature, clean water and excellent conditions for the development of agriculture and life," said Vuković.
During two days, Simović and Orav visited meat processing companies ETC in Tuzi, Radinović Kompani in Donji Kokoti and Branko Vlahović's company in Farmaci, fish processing company ASK in Golubovci, dairy Milk Kompani in Drezga, milk processing company Union Alimenti in Omerbožovići, then the fruit and vegetable processing company Natural Frut in Rogami, as well as the wineries "Vučinić" in Rogami and "Rajković" in Ubli.
Simović and Orav will also visit the fruit, vegetable, medicinal plant and mushroom processing plant Agrovita-Eco in Stari Aerodrom, the plant for processing aromatic and medicinal plants Agrolajf Montenegro in Tuzi and the winery of Zoran Vukčević in Barutana.
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