Producers and cold storage: Imported raspberries also contain Montenegrin ones, which are exported to Serbia, then packed and returned.

Although the cold storers have not yet sold all their raspberries, the Montenegrin market has imported, mostly frozen, at higher prices than our producers are selling.

Many producers and cold storers claim that in that imported frozen raspberry there is Montenegrin raspberry that is exported to Serbia, where it is packed and returned to the Montenegrin market with the label of a foreign product.

The Ministry of Agriculture sees the solution in starting the processing industry.

In order for the raspberry to end up in the "Nedović" cold store in a nearby market, it will travel hundreds of kilometers to Serbia and return to that and other Montenegrin markets at a significantly higher price.

The absurdity of this situation, in which all domestic raspberries cannot be sold on the domestic market, explains the director of the Biotechnical Center in Bijelo Polje, Dejan Zejak.

"From the valley of the river Lim, the raspberries go to a buying center somewhere in Lazarevac, Belgrade or Arilje, and then all the raspberries from that region, not only from Montenegro, some also go from the surrounding republics. The market that is the closest and most traditional for the export of our raspberries is Serbia. About 500 tons of raspberries are exported from Montenegro annually, if we know that the Republic of Serbia has an annual production of 60 to 100 thousand tons, then it is clear to us that these 500 tons participate with only 0,05 percent of the total production ", said Zejak.

According to Monstat data, classified and provided to TV Vijesti by the Ministry of Agriculture, in the first four months of this year, Montenegro exported over 111 tons of frozen raspberries for about 266 thousand euros, while it imported over 13 tons of frozen raspberries for 84 thousand euros.

Last year, Montenegro imported almost 34 and a half tons of frozen raspberries, and exported over 214 tons, also frozen raspberries. There was no export of fresh raspberries, but that's why we imported over two tons for 25 thousand euros.

However, on the shelves of three retail chain markets in Montenegro, there are frozen raspberries in 250-gram packages from the Bjelopolje Kujović refrigerator, which costs almost twice as much as a 300-gram package of frozen raspberries from well-known brands from Serbia. The Kujovics decided to market their product in order to maintain the continuity of the cold store during the year.

How to solve the situation in which there are imported raspberries on the Montenegrin market at higher prices than the domestic ones, which the producers and cold storers cannot sell?

The Ministry of Agriculture sees the solution in raising the processing industry.

The Ministry also announced that, despite the strict procedures of the negotiation process, this year they will help the cold storers who have not yet sold all of last year's raspberries to Serbia.

And while last year's problems have not been solved yet, new ones are already at the door, so due to the announced low purchase price, many raspberry growers cut down their raspberries, and those who will pick raspberries this year will harvest less, because the long rainy period affected the crop.