Serbia: Agricultural and fishery product prices decreased in 2023

Agricultural and fisheries product prices decreased last year

Producer prices of agricultural and fisheries products in January- December 2023, compared to the same period in 2022, decreased on average by 7.7 percent. Looking at the main product groups, in the period January-December 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, the largest impact on price decline was observed in the groups: Grains (-25.8 percent) and Industrial Plants (-22.1 percent), announced the Republic Statistical Office (RZS). Producer prices of agricultural and fisheries products in December last year, compared to the same month in 2022, decreased by 17.7 percent, states the website of the RZS. Looking at the main product groups, compared to the same month the previous year, the most significant impact on price decline was observed in the groups: Grains (-42.9 percent) and Industrial Plants (-9.7 percent). Producer prices of agricultural and fisheries products in December compared to November last year increased on average by 2.3 percent. Looking at the main product groups, compared to the previous month, the largest impact on price increase was observed in the groups: Grains (4.3 percent) and Livestock and Poultry (2.2 percent).

Significant decline in trading volume at the Novi Sad commodity exchange in 2023

The quantity of goods traded at the Commodity Exchange in Novi Sad last year amounted to 174.5 thousand tons, representing a decrease of 40.9 percent compared to 2022. The annual report of the Commodity Exchange from Novi Sad for 2023 attributes this substantial decline to geopolitical events worldwide. The highest trading activity occurred in November last year when the Republic Directorate for Commodity Reserves purchased 27.660 tons of wheat, as specified in the report. Wheat remained the primary traded commodity in the annual turnover, holding a 50.3 percent share, consistent with the previous year. Corn ranked second with 33.27 percent, followed by soybeans with 6.32 percent. The highest price for corn was recorded in January at 0.28 EUR per kilogram, excluding VAT, while the lowest was observed in October at 0.11 EUR. The price peak for wheat in 2023 was also in January, reaching 0.30 EUR per kilogram excluding VAT, with the lowest price also recorded in October at 0.15 EUR. Throughout the year, 1.141 commodity exchange contracts were concluded, representing a decrease of 6.93 percent compared to 2022. There were 450 active members at the exchange last year, marking an 18.4 percent increase from the previous year. Seventy new companies and agricultural households became members of the Commodity Exchange.

The status of farmers who abused state subsidies

The Ministry of Agriculture made a decision to place all farms that misused state subsidies in passive status. Passive status means that due to false information filed into the e-Agrar system by a farmer, their farm will not be included in the state subsidy payment system for the next 3 years. Minister of Agriculture Ms. Jelena Tanaskovic, has met with representatives of 16 farmers' associations who organized protests and roadblocks in November last year. The Minister emphasized that the Agrarian Paying Agency has not yet placed any farm in passive status, and the issued decisions so far are not final, allowing for appeals. So far, 620 decisions have been issued, with 281 farmers lodging appeals. The Minister specified that each case will be individually reassessed, and final decisions on placing farms in passive status will be made after additional on-site inspections. She reiterated that only those who attempted to misuse subsidies falsely would be put in passive status.

DFC and 3bank launched a guarantee scheme for small businesses and farmers

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and 3Bank signed a contract for a guarantee scheme that will provide small enterprises, entrepreneurs, and farmers access to loans with a repayment period of up to 96 months without a mortgage. As stated in 3Bank's press release, loans will be approved through a simple procedure for investment in primary and permanent working capital in amounts ranging from €10.000 to €25.000.

"One of the key obstacles for small entrepreneurs and farmers is the lack of access to long-term sources of financing due to the inability to provide mortgages and other forms of collateral. Through this program, we aim to contribute to solving that problem without additional collateral requirements and with repayment terms long enough not to jeopardize their operations," said Vladimir Vukotic, CEO of 3bank. DFC's involvement in Serbia was foreshadowed by the Washington Agreement signed at the White House in September 2020 by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and former Prime Minister of Kosovo Avdulah Hoti in the presence of then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

In January 2021, a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Serbia was signed to promote investments, a prerequisite for initiating DFC activities. In mid-December 2022, this institution approved a guarantee scheme for small and medium-sized enterprises and farmers worth $400 million.

Scientists to begin analyzing extreme weather in Serbia

Over the next three years, a team of professors and researchers from the Belgrade Institute for Meteorology will deal with identifying, analyzing and predicting extreme weather and climate events in Serbia, while the main problem that the EXTREMES project will deal with are drought, floods, heat waves, storms, and even fog. The EXTREMES project is supported and financed by the Serbian Republic Fund for Science as part of the Prizma program.

Milica Tosic from the Institute for Meterology told the Klima 101  website that due to the broad temporal and spatial scale of extreme events, the research would use the results of numerical simulations of microphysical processes and climate and extreme fog forecasts with the help of weather forecast models, and that artificial intelligence methods would also be engaged. She said that the goal was to establish a single and complete database. Another goal, she said, is to educate young scientists from other fields and enable them to analyze, interpret and use meteorological data. She added that these activities would also contribute to achieving strategic goals in assessing the risk of disasters, adjusting to climate change and elevating resistance to climate extremes in Serbia.