500th cooperative formed in Serbia: Serbian villages on road to salvation

The Serbian village is on the path to salvation, thanks to the fact that the recovery of the country's rural parts was put at the top of the list of priorities of the government of Serbia.

The project "500 cooperatives in 500 villages of Serbia" just celebrated the opening of the 500th cooperative in our country.

"The 500th cooperative has been formed - the project of 500 cooperatives in 500 villages is the reality of Serbia. That means 500 small open-air factories, thousands of connected households who believe in themselves and their loved ones," the minister said, adding:

"The cooperatives were formed by heads of farming households of Serbia, assisted by the government, the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences (SANU), cooperative associations, local self-governments and experts from agricultural faculties. The president of the Republic, Aleksandar Vucic, gave special support to the development of the cooperatives."

"His determination to develop all parts of the Republic of Serbia evenly gained its full meaning in the reconstruction and development of cooperative farming. Without a cooperative, there is no village in Serbia, and without a village in Serbia, there is no Serbia," said Krkobabic, who is in charge of Regional Development in the Serbian government.

He spoke during a visit to the Nisava Administrative District and the Razanj Municipality.

Photo: Risto Kostov

The minister opened the 8th economic event, "Blackberry Days," at the Razanj Cultural Center.

During this event, which - in addition to practical presentation of fruit processing and exhibition of machinery and products used in agriculture - also serves to educate farmers about a current topic each year.

This year they were able to exchange experiences on organic fruit farming, pulling their forces together and marketing of products, as well as ways for successful brand creation.

Visitors could also see equipment and machinery acquired by the Zapis 2012 agricultural cooperative with funds (5.8 million dinars) obtained from last year's Cooperative Government Program implemented by the cabinet of Minister Milan Krkobabic.

Later in the day, the minister visited the livestock cooperative Bukovik Razanj in the village of Lipovac, which received 10.4 million dinars from the same program for the purchase of 30 heifers of Simmental breed.

Photo: Risto Kostov

(Telegraf.rs)