June 25th, 2021 - Croatia does not have the right to ignore the fact that its farms are old, that someone has to stay living there, and that it requires agriculture investments to catch up to developed countries, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said at a regional workshop on Friday.

This was the first regional workshop on the "Strategic Plan for the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) 2023-2028," intended for local and regional government representatives and experts.

Vučković said that interested beneficiaries could be informed of the challenges of the future CAP and the basic elements of the future national strategic plan.

She recalled that the agriculture strategy to 2030 had been completed, as has a study on the strategy's impact on the environment. The strategy has four objectives - increasing the productivity of agricultural production and its resilience to climate change, strengthening the competitiveness of the agriculture-food sector, reviving rural areas, and stimulating innovations.

On the other hand, the National Strategy Plan is being prepared according to future EU regulations and incorporates matters that the strategy doesn't.

"We are opening important and challenging issues related to the financial allocation, about certain definitions that didn't exist before, for example, what is a real or active farmer... The challenges ahead also mean satisfying climate and ecological ambitions concerning investment in new technology," said Vučković. 

Commenting on the challenges in agriculture in the coming period, Vučković underscored that each country in the EU has its specificities.

" Agriculture, in fact, is that activity that has to equally consider all three pillars of sustainability - economic, social, and green sustainability," she said, adding that the agriculture policy wishes to contribute to maintaining Croatia's beauty, biodiversity and to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

She underscored that the rural development program definitely brings structural changes to Croatia's agriculture.

She announced that amendments to the Farmland Act would be prepared soon.

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ZAGREB, 9 April, 2021 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković on Friday presented three contracts from the Rural Development Programme worth HRK 8.5 million to beneficiaries in Jarmina municipality in eastern Croatia.

She also attended the opening of "Jarmina", the first kindergarten in the municipality in which HRK 7 million was invested from EU funds and her ministry's Rural Development Programme. It will be attended by 75 children.

Vučković told the press this was the 12th kindergarten in Vukovar-Srijem County built with funds from the Rural Development Programme, for which HRK 56 million was ensured, adding that 200 kindergartens would be opened in Croatia thanks to over HRK 1 billion from the programme.

The 12 kindergartens have been opened in communities with a population of below 5,000.

Vučković said kindergartens were important for keeping young families in villages, adding that her ministry would soon advertise calls for the construction of more kindergartens, farmers' markets, firehouses and community culture centres.

Last year the Croatian EU presidency secured the support of the member states for a transitional regulation to enable continuity of financing until "the whole common agricultural policy reform is adopted," the minister said, adding that the reconstruction and construction of the social infrastructure in rural areas would continue.

Over €5 billion for Croatian agriculture

Vučković announced that Croatia would receive over €5 billion for agriculture in the EU's 2021-27 budget.

She said 12.9% of Croatian farmers and over 20% in Vukovar-Srijem County were under 41.

(€1 = HRK 7.5)

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ZAGREB, 8 April, 2021 - Documents resulting from the Strategic Transformation in Agriculture and Rural Space (STARS) project will help determine how around five billion euros that have been made available for Croatia's agricultural sector will be spent, Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said on Thursday.

The Agriculture Ministry and the World Bank cooperated on the STARS project, and the agreement on project cooperation was signed in October 2018.

Analyses, studies and guidelines made during the project have thus been significantly used also in making a draft agricultural strategy for the period until 2030, which has been put to public consultation, and in making a national aquaculture development plan for the period 2021-2027. Both documents are aimed at enhancing the sectors' competitiveness and adapting them to current conditions.

Numerous domestic and foreign experts, sector stakeholders, employees of the Agriculture Ministry and other Croatian institutions and universities cooperated on the project, with Vučković noting that the start of work on the project had coincided with debates about the future of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, which will affect financing priorities and development of agriculture in all member states.

The project served to reexamine the situation and needs of the Croatian farm sector, as well as the measures that are being implemented, and its documents will be used in deciding how the roughly five billion euros intended for Croatian agriculture will be used, Vučković said.

Great chances for development of Croatian farm sector

Project coordinator Svetlana Edmeades of the World Bank said that the World Bank strongly believed that Croatia had great chances for the development of its farm sector.

Farm producers have central place in the project, which identifies as national strategic goals an increase in productivity and in the resilience of farm production to climate change, stronger competitiveness of the agricultural and food sector, revival of rural economy and improving living conditions in rural areas.

Edmeades underlined the importance of knowledge and innovations, noting that the development of Croatia's agriculture should be green, resilient and inclusive, which includes, among other things, production of organic food, sector resilience to shocks, as well as greater involvement of smaller producers in existing value chains.

She said the project achievements were a number of reports that should serve as guidelines for the ministry and farm producers towards a green, resilient and inclusive agriculture.

The World Bank official said that the analyses were expected to significantly contribute to the government's programme with regard to specific targets in the farm sector, in the making of a national agricultural and rural development strategy, participation of agriculture in the national recovery and resilience plan, and national strategic planning within CAP.

Value of agricultural production to be raised to HRK 30bn by 2030 

State secretaries Tugomir Majdak, Zdravko Tušek and Šime Mršić presented the draft agricultural strategy for the period until 2030 and the national plan for the development of aquaculture in the period 2021-2027.

The officials said that the projected effects of the strategy until 2030 were an increase in labour productivity of 60% and the consequent increase in the value of farm production to HRK 30 billion, for which funds in the amount of €7.5 billion were envisaged.

This should be achieved, among other things, by a 35% increase in the number of locally bred fattening pigs, a 20% increase in cattle breeding, expanding areas under permanent crops by 5,000 hectares and areas where crops are grown under glass by 500 hectares, a 20% increase in the share of the food industry in GDP and a 30% increase in the number of producers in short supply chains.

The national plan for the development of aquaculture in the period 2021-2027, which is being made, will put emphasis on stronger competitiveness and the creation of 15% more jobs in the rural and coastal economies in the aquaculture value chain, including an increase in total production volume of 30%, a 35% increase in added value in the processing of aquaculture products, and an increase in the average annual consumption of aquaculture products per capita by as much as 50%, the Agriculture Ministry said.

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ZAGREB, 4 March, 2021 - During Thursday's debate on amendments to the Agriculture Act, the parliamentary opposition said Croatia's agriculture was collapsing due to poor policies, while Minister Marija Vučković dismissed such claims and said that agricultural production was growing.

Željko Lenart (HSS-HSU) said 33,000 hectares of valuable farmland from the former Agrokor conglomerate was now owned by the foreign Fortenova and that pig farming and milk production were collapsing.

He said the Farmland Act was not being honoured, that a stay on the sale of farmland to foreigners would soon end, and that the smallest farmers were being destroyed because only 6.5% of the biggest producers received the bulk of the aid.

Mišel Jakšić (Social Democrats) said the state of agriculture showed that the policies to date had not produced results because import was high and there was no self-sufficiency despite the potential.

Marija Selak Raspudić (Bridge) said 88 million tonnes a year was thrown away due to expiration dates and pushed for donating food to the needy and establishing a food bank.

Vučković said cereal production and cattle-framing were up and that food donations had gone up 13%, adding that it was necessary to reduce food waste.

Marijana Petir (ruling HDZ) pushed for regulating the aid system to facilitate the development of small and medium farmers. She announced a call for applications for HRK 120 million to help farmers in earthquake-hit areas.

ZAGREB, 4 March, 2021 - During a cabinet meeting on Thursday, the government adopted a state aid scheme for this year for exceptionally vulnerable sectors in agriculture, ensuring HRK 121 million for that purpose.

Agriculture Minister Marija Vučković said that HRK 51 million was earmarked for dairy cows, HRK 18.5 million for reproductive sows, HRK 42 million for tobacco production, HRK 8.5 million for the olive oil sector and HRK 1 million for domesticated and native agricultural plants.

The total amount of HRK 121 million will come from the ministry's state budget allocation and from projections for 2022 and 2023, Vučković said.

The programme is aimed at improving these vulnerable sectors.

Legislative framework by year's end for euro coins with national side

The government tasked the Finance Ministry with preparing, by the end of the year in cooperation with the Croatian National Bank (HNB), a bill and other necessary acts designating the Ministry as the competent authority for issuing euro coins. These laws will also lay down the procedure for issuing, manufacturing, security, storage, management, supply, replacement, withdrawal and destruction of euro coins.

Currently, HNB has the exclusive right to issue kuna coins, and after adopting the euro currency, Croatia will follow the example of the majority of euro area countries where coins are issued by the relevant ministry.

Finance Minister Zdravko Marić recalled that last year the government had adopted the National Plan to replace the Croatian kuna with the euro and the issuance of coins is one of the significant activities in that process.

The government also endorsed the activities of the Croatian Mint in designing euro coins with the national side, Marić said.

The coins will have to be approved by the European Commission after meeting all the criteria. Marić added that the ministry will also have to arrange possible models of the business relationship with the Croatian Mint before the end of the year.

ZAGREB, Sept 25, 2020 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic on Friday attended the signing of 29 new contracts, worth HRK 9.4 million, with beneficiaries from five Slavonian counties for investments in cattle breeding.

Contracts worth more than 805 million kuna have been signed, funding worth HRK 545 million has been paid and 495 investment projects have been signed as part of the Rural Development Programme in Brod-Posavina County alone, which Vuckovic visited today.

One such project is the construction of a daycare centre in Sibinj, which the minister opened today.

EU funds are being used to build, renovate and equip some 200 kindergartens and a playground in rural areas, projects worth more than a billion kuna.

"There are 12 such projects in Brod-Posavina County for which we have agreed support worth HRK 57.6 million. The ministry cares about investments of this kind, which at first glance do not have anything to do with agriculture. The government wants to create conditions for people in rural areas to live well, and we have been working intensively on that by defining measures and policies that are mostly financed with EU funds," she said.

The minister today also opened a congress of sawmill owners in Slavonski Brod.

(€1 = HRK 7.54)

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ZAGREB, Sept 15, 2020 - The coronavirus crisis caused the beef industry facing collapse, the Baby Beef association said on Tuesday, adding that Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic has promised HRK 60 million in support for that industry.

The association said that the industry was facing collapse and that is why they called for an urgent meeting with Minister Vuckovic.

The meeting was held last week and Minister Vuckovic announced subsidies similar to those in other countries, notably Slovenia and France, in order to bail out the cattle breeding industry.

It was agreed that HRK 60 million would be paid to the industry in two installments, with the first installment at the end of this year and the second installment by the end of February 2021.

That would cover part of our losses and would resolve the issue of current and future surpluses, the association said.

The association warned that the corona crisis has meant huge problems for cattle breeders who produce about 120,000 yearling beef each year and generate about HRK 1.3 billion in revenue.

The association said that currently, producers have a surplus of about 30,000 yearlings, and by the end of the year that could increase to about 70,000.

That is the result of excessive imports of beef from EU countries that subsidize their cattle breeding industry, and this has threatened our market, the association said.

The association said that as soon as the crisis broke out, Slovenia and France subsidized their products with €100 per head.

Croatian farmers cannot compete with those prices, the association added.

The Baby Beef association brings together about 330 cattle breeders who account for 90% of the beef sector in the country and raise about 120,000 yearlings a year.

About two-thirds of cattle are sold live to the Middle East or as meat to Italy while one-third is sold on the domestic market.

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ZAGREB, August 27, 2020 - The Croatian government on Thursday approved a HRK 1.4 million programme whereby a jar of honey produced in Croatia will be given to every first grader this autumn.

Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic recalled that this programme had been launched in December 2018, and covered all elementary schools throughout the country.

To date, 828 schools with 72,002 pupils have been engaged in the implementation of the programme, and honey provided by 381 local beekeepers has been distributed to those schools.

According to data by beekeepers, which were made public in 2019, Croatia has 8,000 apiarists and more than 415,000 bee communities with an annual production of honey and other bee products of more than 8,000 tonnes.

The average consumption of honey per capita in Croatia is 2 kilogrammes.

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ZAGREB, June 1, 2020 - Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic, state-secretary in her ministry, Tugomir Majdak and deputy chief of staff in the prime minister's office, Tena Misetic will testify in the wind park scandal involving former state secretary Josipa Rimac, Hina heard from sources close to the probe.

Vuckovic, Majdak and Misetic will be questioned as witnesses because their names were mentioned during wiretapping of conversations Rimac, a former state secretary in the Administration Ministry until last week when she was dismissed after the scandal broke out.

According to sources with close knowledge of the investigation, Rimac allegedly mentioned Misetic in a conversation with Anton Sladic, a businessman from Sibenik, who is a suspect in the scandal. Rimac informed Sladic that Ruzica Njavro, chief of staff at the Agriculture Ministry, had allegedly contacted the prime minister's deputy chief of staff to accelerate the process and approve subsidies.

Rimac allegedly reminded Sladic to submit an application to the ministry along with Zagreb businessman Josip Ravlic, another suspect in the case, and that the ministry "would not be able to ignore the application because the caretaker government can adopt regulations."

Majdak is mentioned in the conversation between Rimac and Sladic in which Rimac, who used to be the mayor of Knin, allegedly said that Dean Zoran Grgic of the Faculty of Agronomy had spoken with Majdak and sent him an email in which he listed objections in an attempt to have the regulation on the lease of forest land, amended. The USKOK anti-corruption office claims that the amendments curried favour with Sladic.

At the motion of the USKOK anti-corruption office, a Zagreb County Court investigating judge on Saturday set one month's detention for Rimac and another six suspects in this case involving the construction of a wind park in the Dalmatian hinterland.

Detention was also set for Natasa Turbic, the ruling HDZ party's head of Gracac municipality, Njavro, Marinko Tokmacija, a Knin city councillor, and the businessman Sladic. They have been detained to prevent them from witness tampering. The judge dismissed USKOK's motion that the suspects be placed in custody also to prevent them from possibly repeating their crimes.

Detention was also set for C.E.M.P. company owner Milenko Basic and director Dragan Stipic, both of whom are beyond the reach of Croatian police.

Besides Rimac, Turbic, Njavro, Tokmacija, Sladic, Basic and Stipic, criminal reports were filed against Hrvatske Sume forest management company CEO Krunoslav Jakupcic, the head of its Split branch, Ivan Melvan, the head of the Croatian Energy Regulatory Agency, Tomislav Jurekovic, Zagreb businessman Ravlic, Knin businessman Nikola Lapcic and Ana Mandac, an assistant economy minister sacked last Friday.