Montenegro, as a country that imports over three million euros of agricultural products every day, must invest in agriculture, said the candidate for councilor on the list "European Union - Boris Mugoša (SDP, SD, LP and Citizens) - Podgorica for example", said Budimir Mugosha.
According to him, the capital has a huge potential for agricultural development, but the state does not invest in it. In addition, Mugoša assessed that the agricultural sector, both at the state and local level, is run by people who neither know agriculture nor Podgorica.
"Immense rural areas, from areas with a subtropical climate to the mountainous area of Veruša. We can produce a huge amount of food in that area. Is that so? Not. We do not produce enough food, we do not use the comparative advantages of our city and, of course, the market of a big city that can absorb all that we produce. Why is that so? This is because the agricultural sector is run by people who neither know agriculture nor our city. It is the same at the national and local level," Mugoša said.
The first thing that the European Union will do when it comes to power, as he pointed out, is to conduct an analysis of where the biggest funds should be invested.
"And, of course, before that we will intervene in those areas where something is urgent. And what is urgent? It is urgent to allocate at least 1% of the city budget for agriculture. With that shameful 0,2% of the budget, that is 250.000 euros, the allocation for agriculture must be 1.300.000 through 10 programs. I will mention only a few of them. The subsidy for milk was 2021 cents in 10. Following the trend of inflation and increase the price of all agricultural products, in the coming period, the allocation for the subsidy for milk must be at least 8 cents. countries of the European Union," explained Mugoša.
He added that it is also necessary to work on the organization of agricultural producers.
"In the coming period, the capital will help the financial and organizational formation of the so-called agricultural clusters, and in the next two years will cover all the operating costs of those clusters, so that we can survive on the market in competition with neighboring countries and the countries of the European Union. Of course, life in the countryside is not only production and work. People need to live a decent life in the 21st century. That's why we will allocate at least 10% of the capital budget for the development and improvement of communal infrastructure in the villages , without electricity, without internet connection and without water. So, we have to invest 10% in the development of communal infrastructure in rural areas", Mugoša promised.
He noted that the country does not have a single state veterinary clinic.
"As farmers, we do not have any guarantee for the health care of domestic animals 24 hours a week. According to the private-public partnership system, we will form at least two veterinary clinics, where on-call staff will be organized and where they will only deal with large-scale practice. So, veterinarians will treat only domestic animals, so that we don't end up in a situation where our animals die and we have this situation that we have now with Q-fever, that we can't get to a veterinarian, and the situation on the farms is urgent for us", said the member of the European Union.
He also referred to the company "Plodovi", which has a capital of around 10 million euros, but as Mugoš assessed, it was never functional.
"In the last two years, we have received absolutely no benefit from them, except that a few people receive salaries there. The joint-stock company 'Plodovi' must be put into operation, first of all buying and then storing agricultural products, not only from the area of the capital, but and from the area of neighboring municipalities," Mugoša pointed out.
In this way, we will ensure that we don't have so-called supply peaks, when we have a large supply, and then prices drop drastically, he added.
"These are the shortest messages we have for you, as the European Union, and these are the things we will do in the first year of our mandate. We will do the strategy for the development of agriculture in the capital together with you, with your suggestions and with your expectations," Mugoša concluded. .
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