MINISTER JELENA TANASKOVIĆ: 'Gov't's priority securing sufficient amounts of food! Vujović, Mali's advice priceless'

"One of the principal priorities and the main task of our government, as well as of all the others' – given the situation that the world is in now – is to secure sufficient amounts of food. This year as well, which has been exceptionally difficult, Serbia has shown that it responds quickly and efficiently, taking the right measures at a moment of crisis! Our citizens haven't faced shortages of either the basic foodstuffs or of any other ones. All additional funds, set aside in the budget rebalancing and intended for incentives, will be fully used by the end of the year, with the budget including over 30 measures to subsidize farmers."

Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy Jelena Tanasković said this in her interview with Kurir, explaining in detail the current state of affairs in the Serbian agricultural sector, in what ways she intends to improve it, as well as who from her Cabinet colleagues has helped her the most with their advice.

Although you are a new addition to the team of Prime Minister Ana Brnabić and have taken a ministerial post for the first time, you have been working in the government for a long time now as a state secretary in the ministries of finance and environmental protection. How have your colleagues at 11 Nemanjina Street welcomed you, and have you found your previous experience to be helpful?

"My colleagues in the Government of Serbia gave me a very warm welcome. I knew some of them from my previous work, when we had the opportunity to collaborate. I think we are an excellent team, with President Aleksandar Vučić and Prime Minister Brnabić at the helm."

Have ministers Irena Vujović and Siniša Mali, who you worked closely with as their state secretary, given you any advice, and what was it?

"Irena Vujović is a true example of a brave and competent woman in politics, who is deservedly in an important government post owing to an enormous effort that she has been putting in and the results that have followed. Her rich political experience and advice are priceless to me. Working with Siniša Mali means continuous learning, a great responsibility, and tackling challenging tasks involving a great deal of responsibility. As for his advice, after he congratulated me, he told me that I was there for the citizens, that this job requires that you give it your absolute best, and that I should spend as much time as possible on the ground, among the people, in order to find out what their problems are and how the government can help them solve them all together. I highly appreciate Siniša's advice because they come from a man who is a great economic expert and a hard-working, dedicated, and reliable person, ready to always be fighting for a better life of all Serbia's citizens."

What is your assessment of the current state of affairs in the Serbian agricultural sector?

"One of the principal priorities and the main task of our government, as well as all the others', given the situation that the world is in at the moment, is to secure sufficient amounts of food. This year as well, which has been exceptionally difficult, Serbia has shown that it responds quickly and efficiently, taking the right measures at a moment of crisis! Our citizens haven't faced shortages of either the basic foodstuffs or of any other ones! We haven't had empty store shelves like some other countries in the region. We'll promptly respond to the circumstances in the next year as well, and continue taking additional measures. This year, a range of measures have been taken with the aim of providing additional help to the farmers, including producers of milk, sugar beet, and sunflower, as well as the measures related to loan reprogramming assistance, whereby the government will pay a portion of the interest. Moreover, 15,000 tonnes of mercantile corn have been secured via the State Commodity Reserves. This corn will be handed over to our milk cow breeders."

How aware are the Serbian people of the importance of agriculture for the entire state, and what are your plans to improve these sectors?

"In this country, agriculture has a long-standing tradition and is an inseparable part of the lives of all our citizens, which has become evident yet again in these unstable times. Serbia is globally recognizable for its food production, and an increasing number of our products with a Protected Designation of Origin is finding its place in the European and global markets. What the domestic agriculture should strive for is increasing the processing levels, i.e. marketing the products in higher processing stages and with more added value. That is certainly one of the goals that the Ministry has set for the upcoming period."

Will the Government continue to subsidize farmers, and when can they expect the first payment?

"The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy's budget is the highest so far, standing at the moment at 5.3 percent of the Serbian budget's tax revenues. After the budget rebalancing, the 2022 budget was increased by RSD 16.5 billion, standing at 78.5 billion dinars. All the additional funds secured through the budget rebalancing and intended for incentives will be fully used by the end of the year. In the past week, over four billion dinars was paid – Q2 milk premiums, the fuel and insurance subsidies, the incentives for multi-year product plantations and organic livestock farming. On Monday, we will pay the Q3 milk premium, and payments related to all the other measures will be made by mid-December. The funds dedicated to sunflower producers are the only ones that will be paid a little bit later, due to a great number of received requests."

In what ways will the Government be subsidizing farmers in the upcoming period?

"There are over 30 measures in the national budget, including the basic incentives for plant production, standing at 8,000 RSD per hectare plus 1,000 RSD per hectare for fuel; the milk incentives, which stand at 10 and 15 RSD per litre; the direct incentives for high-quality breeding milk cows, standing at 25,000 RSD per head of livestock; the incentives for nurse cows, standing at 40,000 RSD per head of livestock; and 40,000 RSD for beef livestock. Further, we also have direct payments for pigs, the incentives for high-quality breeding sows, standing at 15,000 RSD per sow, the incentives for pig husbandry, standing at 1,000 RSD per pig, and many others. On top of that, incentives are provided per head for goats, sheep, chicken, turkeys, and the production of edible fish, as well as the incentives per beehive."

Are there any developments regarding the fuel subsidies?

"The fuel subsidies have been paid in full this week, in the total amount of 1.6 billion RSD."

We often hear farmers in Serbia complaining about difficult working conditions and that more and more of them are leaving this industry. How can we entice young people to take up agriculture, and how important is it to have as many people as possible working in this industry?

"The age structure is the general problem of not only the Serbian agriculture, but also the European one – fewer and fewer young people enter the agricultural sector. The Ministry of Agriculture is aware of this problem so, for example, young producers can use loan funds with an interest of only one percent through loan support, i.e. subsidizing a portion of the interest rate. Next year we are planning to define new criteria for each incentive so that we take better care of and help all producers in the right sort of way, especially the young ones who wish to start their agricultural production."

The Minister in private

A wife, a mother, a daughter, a sister, and a godmother

You are a new face to most of the general public. Aside from the official CV, and outside the Cabinet office, who is Jelena Tanasković really?

"A wife and a proud mother of a daughter and a son, a sister, a daughter, a friend, and a godmother. I like to spend all my free time, which I'm having less and less of due to my professional duties, with my family and friends. The moments that I spend with my loved ones are the best cure for fatigue and everyday stress, so I've started to value and appreciate that time much more. As for my hobbies, I used to be active in sports, and now I do it recreationally, when my duties permit. My whole family is very much into sports."

Jelena Pronić