The EU Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development and the Delegation of the European Union to Montenegro, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management, organised a conference to announce the first Public Call within the IPARD III Programme to support agriculture and rural development. This public call for Measure 3 is intended for investments in physical assets concerning processing and marketing of agricultural and fishery products.

“Beneficiaries of this Measure include entrepreneurs or business entities, including cooperatives, while for collective investments, in addition to cooperatives, beneficiaries can also be producer organisations. The public call for this measure is set to last for 60 days and will be published on 27 June 2024. Support amounting to €7.2 million has been provided for investments related to the construction and/or reconstruction and equipping of facilities, and the procurement of equipment, specialised vehicles, machinery, and devices,” highlighted Minister Joković.

Copyright: Đorđe Cmiljanić

The IPARD III programme is planned to last for seven years, with the total support budget across several measures potentially reaching €128 million, of which €63 million will be provided as non-repayable funds by the European Union.

"Through the Public Call for Measure 3, investments with a total value ranging from €30,000 to €2 million will be supported. Beneficiaries of this measure can apply from the sectors of milk processing; meat and egg processing; fruit, vegetable, and arable crop processing; wine production; olive processing; and fish and aquaculture product processing," added Minister Joković.

"The outcome of previous calls for Measure 3 has been very encouraging, as we quickly saw positive results. Overall, it is evident that more and more agricultural producers and business owners are applying for our IPARD programme, and the applications are also of better quality. All this is good news as it means that the contracting process is now faster. During recent years, we have helped finance hundreds of investments across the country: from equipment and tractors for smaller agricultural holdings to the construction of larger enterprises, like the one we are visiting today," stated Frank Bolen, representative of the Directorate for Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission (DG AGRI).

AgroMont has been operating for over thirty years. All quality standards applied in EU companies are implemented within the company. Agromont successfully collaborates with dozens of companies from the EU.

Copyright: Đorđe Cmiljanić

Luka Jokić, representative of Agromont doo, emphasised the following: "Our company is a regular user of IPARD funds, and we can personally confirm that this type of support has significantly helped us introduce business processes and policies that the company lacked. As a country in a transitional period, all experiences and examples of good practice are very important to us. IPARD funds have made our investment policy realistic and made our business 'dreams' come true."

Minister Joković invited all interested parties to participate in the upcoming informative campaign. During the promotion, workshops for interested parties will be organised at the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro in Bijelo Polje and Cetinje. The aim of these workshops is to explain in more detail the support possibilities, conditions, and criteria for application to potential beneficiaries through direct communication on the ground.

Meeting of Minister Joković with Representatives of the European Commission

The conference announcing the first call for Measure 3 of the IPARD III programme was preceded by a separate meeting between Minister Vladimir Joković and Frank Bolen, Head of the Pre-Accession Unit for Neighbourhood, Enlargement, and Pre-Accession Assistance at DG AGRI. The meeting focused on the continuation and improvement of cooperation with EU institutions in the field of agriculture and rural development.

Copyright: Đorđe Cmiljanić

"I am pleased that the third call within the new programme will be opened very soon and encourage you to complete the current contracts under the present programme to fully utilise the available funds," said Bolen.

Minister Joković thanked the representatives of the European Union and highlighted the importance of the good cooperation to date, which will continue further to strengthen the partnership between Montenegro and the European Union and further progress in the negotiation process. He emphasised the importance of the support Montenegro receives from the EU concerning the three Chapters under the Ministry's jurisdiction (agriculture, rural development, food safety, veterinary and phytosanitary services, fisheries, and aquaculture), especially through the implementation of pre-accession funds from the IPARD programme.