Radulović: It is unacceptable that Montenegro imports more than one million euros of food per day

Filip Radulović, a member of the Presidency of the Europe Now Movement (PES), said that it is unacceptable that Montenegro imports more than one million euros of food per day.

He pointed out that Montenegro is a fertile country, which has the potential to feed itself.

"Large imports put pressure on domestic farmers and herders. Imports at European market prices 'kill' domestic production, which leads to Montenegro having the most unproductive land in Europe. Other countries, like Slovenia, protect domestic businessmen much better because they invest more money in agriculture than us. Annually, Slovenia allocates 400 million euros for this branch, while Montenegro allocates only 50 million," announced Radulović.

Imported food is cheaper, but that does not mean, as he states, that it is better or healthier than food produced in our fields.

"One of the reasons why our agriculture is shutting down is the low purchase prices of domestic products, from milk to meat, because our state protects trade chains instead of domestic producers. This is why development policies must be strategically changed for one of the greatest development potentials of Montenegro." he adds.

Radulović said that PES believes in the development of agriculture as one of the most important pillars of the development of the north.

"When we come to power, we will open regional purchasing centers and guarantee fair prices for local meat, dairy products, eggs, fruit and vegetables. These foods can then go to hospitals, student dormitories, schools, and below the market price they are currently paying. We will not allow large companies that have a monopoly on the market dictate purchase prices," he said.

He also reminds that there were redemption centers and cooperatives that guaranteed redemption, but that, "accidentally or intentionally", they "were devastated" in the last few decades.

"The effects of opening purchasing centers are multiple. Domestic producers will receive more money, emigration from the north will stop, there will be fresh and healthy food on our tables for us and our children, and we will become independent from large chains, market shocks in Europe and the world because when we enter in the EU, we will have to be even more competitive with Europe. The development of Montenegro implies balanced regional development, and we will try to make the north, with its potential, the locomotive of the country's development again, as it was before the factories were shut down, the stables closed and the property overgrown." , concluded Radulović.