Support for agriculture

To mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Serbian government has allocated 2,6 billion dinars in agricultural assistance and adopted two decrees.

The official title of the first measure is: Decree on financial assistance to agricultural holdings to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, for which one billion and 150 million dinars has been allocated; and the Decree on financial support for agricultural holdings through easier access to loans under difficult economic conditions caused by the COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, by subsidizing part of the interest, for which one billion and 450 million dinars has been set aside.

Under the first decree, one-off aid is calculated per unit of registered area in protected cultivation, per head of livestock, or per number of beehives. Thus, vegetable growers using protected cultivation can receive up to 90.000 dinars, livestock farmers 3.000 dinars per cow, up to a maximum of 30.000 dinars, 500 dinars per sheep or goat, up to a maximum of 20.000 dinars; beekeepers can also receive up to that amount, or 800 dinars per hive.

Loans on favorable terms are available for livestock farming development—purchasing animals and paying insurance premiums—as well as for developing crop farming, fruit growing, viticulture, vegetable growing and floriculture; investment in agricultural machinery and equipment; purchasing animal feed; investment in certain types of machinery and equipment used in crop production; and, finally, most importantly, for liquidity. Farmers as individuals and agricultural entrepreneurs can obtain favorable loans, with different borrowing limits. Individuals will be approved for loans of up to 6 million dinars, while entrepreneurs can borrow up to 18 million, and loans of 3 million dinars are available for liquidity.