The Olive Growers Association "Antivari" gave a generally positive opinion on the draft Decision on incentives and investments in the development of agriculture in Bar, but they stated that the decision should include the revitalization of olive trees and provide more and better support for product placement and branding. They also have objections related to the support measure for the revitalization of old olive trees, namely the envisaged period of 20 years, for which, as stated in the decision, the measure cannot be supported by the municipality and they believe that this period is extremely long and unacceptable.
The Municipality of Bar has prepared a new Decision that, as they say, will further support women and youth in agriculture and facilitate the process of obtaining support. The Decision was subject to public discussion until April 2, and its explanation states that it is being changed because a large number of suggestions from farmers were expressed in the previous period.
This, according to the Bar Secretariat for Economy, headed by Samir Durakovic, expressed a clear need for a new decision, which would eliminate the shortcomings in a better and more comprehensive manner.
"News" are from the Municipality, which is managed by Dušan Raičević (DPS), said that the local government has been implementing incentive programs in agriculture for six years as a form of support for economic activities in the city, all for the purpose of maximum utilization of the potential possessed by the Bar municipality, and with the intention of strengthening and additional motivation of producers to improve production processes, but also to additionally support them in the promotion and placement of products.
Recognizing the importance of this support, as they told "Vijesti", and with the aim of making it even more significant, the Municipality timely prepared a draft of a new Decision on incentives and investments in agricultural development.
After the local assembly adopts this act, they added, it is necessary to implement a number of other administrative and institutional steps, primarily including the adoption of an annual Plan for the Use of Funds, which will clearly and transparently define specific amounts of support for all branches of agriculture, including olive growing, viticulture, livestock farming and other areas.
"This will be followed by the publication of a Public Call for Support for the Development of Agricultural Activities, which will precisely determine all amounts for individual branches, measures and other procedural and administrative steps necessary for the provision of financial support in agriculture, thus enabling producers to plan their investments and expected financial support in advance," the Municipality said.
The local government points out that Bar has continuously recorded a slight increase in the number of agricultural producers using incentives, which confirms that the measures are available and recognized in the field.
"Based on experiences from previous years and an analysis of the use of funds, realistic estimates have been made of the number of agricultural producers who could be supported through this type of support, and budget funds for the current year have been planned accordingly," they stated.
Easier access to incentives
Through the draft of the new decision, the Municipality says, a special focus is placed on young people and women in agriculture, who are further facilitated in their access to incentives through increased percentages of support, in order to ensure that they, as owners of agricultural holdings, take greater advantage of all the opportunities and benefits provided by local government in the context of strengthening agricultural activities.
"Clearly defined rules allow farmers to know in advance how much they can expect to be refunded, because all fiscal invoices issued from January 1, 2026 until the end of the Public Call, which are in accordance with its rules, will be recognized. Thanks to this, agricultural producers and others in the process have predictability and security in the investment process and can predict in advance how much financial resources will be refunded to them."
When asked by "Vijesti" what suggestions and comments they were guided by when drafting the decision, they replied that one of the most important innovations, which was defined as such by taking into account user suggestions, was the simplification of the application procedure.
According to the new Decision, they added, all items on the application form have been unified, meaning that now users will be able to select all measures that can be implemented in one branch of agriculture.
"In this way, maximum performance can be achieved within one branch, and at the same time it can be applied in two other different branches of agriculture. This approach enables greater investment effect, better utilization of resources and stronger development of agricultural production in the Municipality of Bar," the Municipality concluded.
Support the revitalization of olive trees
From the board of directors of the Bar Olive Growers Association "Antivari", which he chairs Jovica Martinović, they told "Vijesti" that they give a generally positive opinion on the draft decision when it comes to the olive sector, especially due to the fact that it envisages the introduction of new support measures, i.e. incentives per kilogram of harvested olives and liter of extra virgin olive oil produced.
However, they also have objections related to the support measure for the revitalization of old olive trees, namely the envisaged period of 20 years, for which, as stated in the decision, the measure cannot be supported by the municipality.
This period is extremely long and unacceptable from the point of view of the Olive Growers Association. First of all, as they said, this is a measure that should encourage and encourage olive growers to revitalize their plantations more often, and "lower" the olives and adapt them to new harvesting methods.
"It is known that, after basic pruning, with the application of other measures (fertilization, hoeing), the olive tree Žutica very quickly forms new shoots that become thicker branches in less than five years. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out the so-called sanitary felling or cleaning and thinning of young shoots (filiza, as they say in Bar) after just three years from the basic pruning. This is very demanding and requires a lot of skill and knowledge. The next basic pruning (revitalization) is carried out in eight to ten years," said "Antivari".
Therefore, if the Municipality of Bar wants to encourage olive growers, and not discourage them, they suggest that the deadline for the revitalization support measure be a maximum of eight or ten years. They also state that it is necessary to foresee a support measure for cleaning and thinning young shoots (sprouts) every three years.
"These two support measures can be graduated - a certain amount per tree is allocated for basic revitalization, and a slightly smaller amount (around 70 percent) for cleaning and thinning young shoots. In other words, if the revitalization support measure is 10 euros per tree, it would be logical for cleaning young shoots to be seven euros," said "Antivari".
Introduce a certificate of “acceptance”
The Olive Growers Association also recommends that, in addition to the cash compensation and the fiscal invoice for processing, a certificate of "umm" or "ushur" that the olive processor took from the olive grower should be introduced as proof for the premium per kilogram of olive oil.
Namely, some olive processors traditionally do not take money, but rather a deposit of three liters of oil for one hundred kilograms of olives processed. Only the oil miller, or olive processor, can issue a valid certificate for both the quantities of olives processed and the quantities of oil produced.
"It is important to include in the text of the Decision or public call that the olive grower is registered in the olive grower register or has a registered agricultural holding with the Ministry of Agriculture. We should also consider introducing loans for olive growers before the start of the harvest, because it is known that the harvest costs a lot. The fact is that costs have increased enormously, because there is no labor force, so the harvest is extremely expensive and in the 2025/26 season it cost up to one euro per kilogram of harvested olives," point out "Antivari".
This means that in last year's harvest, each processed kilogram of oil cost the Bar olive farmer (only for the harvest) up to eight euros. If we add to this the costs of hoeing and cutting the trees, olive farmers told "Vijesti", and mowing the grass several times a year, we arrive at a figure of at least ten euros in costs for each processed liter of oil, and that in the year of harvest. As is known, the Bar olive does not bear fruit every year, so the costs should be viewed in light of this fact.
"Olive farming is still an extensive branch of agriculture in Bar and Montenegro. It still takes a lot of time and resources to revitalize all existing olive groves, and plant and maintain new plantations. We should support product placement, branding and brand formation among a larger number of producers more and better than before. It is necessary to build more new access roads, maintain existing routes, and protect olive groves from theft during the season and devastation throughout the entire period. All of this requires greater assistance from both the Municipality and the Ministry from the agricultural budget and the road infrastructure budget, as well as the construction of culverts and retaining walls in order to maintain existing roads," concluded the Bar Olive Growers Association.
Municipal agricultural budget 250 thousand euros
In the 2026 budget of the Municipality of Bar, which amounts to over 65 million, 290 thousand euros are foreseen for subsidies among the funds of the Secretariat for Economy. Of this, 250 thousand euros are intended for the agricultural budget, while 40 thousand euros are allocated for incentives for crafts.
In 2025, the Bar local government issued six public calls for support to agriculture - in the areas of livestock production, viticulture and winemaking, olive production and development, improvement of crop and vegetable production, establishment and equipment of fruit plantations, and improvement of beekeeping.
Growers and producers could apply for a subsidy of 50 percent of the total costs per investment, and the maximum amount of support funds for all categories was two thousand euros.
12 thousand euros were allocated for livestock farming, viticulture and beekeeping (a total of 36 thousand), 37 thousand for olive growing, 30 thousand for field and vegetable growing, and 40 thousand for fruit growing.
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