Serbia Farm Subsidies: Caretaker Minister Leaves Payout to New Government

Serbia's caretaker Agriculture Minister, Dragan Glamočić, has said that the second instalment of state incentives for crop production should be decided by the next government, leaving farmers without a payment date as autumn sowing ends. His comments, reported by RTS and carried by Vojvođanski reporter on 6 November, drew a demand from the People's Movement of Serbia (NPS) on 7 November for the money to be paid immediately.

What the minister said

Glamočić said he did not have the political legitimacy to decide on the payment because voters had chosen differently at the 25 October election, and that a new government, which he expects within weeks, should adopt the rules. He said he had planned to change the model so that payments would not be equal for all, but would depend on the type of production and the work a farmer puts in. He also denied having promised a specific amount: "I never said it would be 17,000 dinars." Earlier, on 3 November, he asked farmers' associations whether planned calls for investment subsidies should go ahead or wait for the new cabinet. A second call for subsidised farm loans did open on 2 November, with applications through partner banks until 2 December.

Farmers' side

The NPS said farmers had been counting on 17,000 dinars per hectare, with a deadline that expired on 1 November, and had planned production and costs on that basis. Katarina Jelisavčić, an agricultural engineer whom the party describes as chair of the parliamentary agriculture committee, said state institutions have continuity and that obligations to citizens do not lapse when ministers change. Žaklina Stojanović, dean of the Faculty of Economics in Belgrade, told RTS that food production should not depend on political change. In September, the Vojvodina farmers' alliance said many maize, sunflower and soybean growers were close to ruin and that half had not repaid debts for spring inputs.

Why it matters

Drought and high temperatures delayed autumn sowing this year, raising farmers' costs. In Belgrade, approved city subsidies for tractors and other equipment were annulled after the list of beneficiaries had been published. Whether, how much and how fast the second payment is made will be one of the first economic decisions for the government that the Student List majority is due to form.