Prime Minister and President of Parliament meet with representatives of Union of cattle breeders of Montenegro in village of Ljeska in Pljevlja

Prime Minister of Montenegro Zdravko Krivokapić and President of the Parliament of Montenegro Aleksa Bečić held a meeting with representatives of the Union of cattle breeders of Montenegro in the village of Ljeska in Pljevlja.

Prime Minister Krivokapić promised that the state would do everything in its power to ensure healthy competition, on the one hand, but also to protect domestic production, on the other hand. In that context, he urged large markets to give priority to domestic producers and their products.

The Prime Minister reminded of the unacceptable fact that 7% VAT is paid when importing meat, and 21% VAT when buying it. In that sense, the Prime Minister pointed out that it is inadmissible that cattle breeders who planned to sell lamb or some other meat cannot do that, because it is more profitable to buy imported goods than to use domestic ones.

In a conversation with the representatives of the Union of cattle breeders of Montenegro, Krivokapić expressed his readiness to improve the legal solutions in order to jointly improve Union's position.

Thanking for the warm welcome, President of the Parliament Aleksa Bečić expressed his readiness to contribute to solving the challenges faced by agricultural producers in Montenegro.

We must develop agriculture and production because they are a guarantee of the long-term survival of Montenegro. We must diversify agriculture, as well as tourism, and by diversifying these branches, we must encourage and protect domestic production and strengthen agriculture. Unfortunately, something that has been destroyed for thirty years cannot be recovered in thirty days, said the President of the Parliament.

He stated that one of the main problems that destroyed domestic production were the import lobbies, and assessed as unacceptable the fact that huge funds are allocated for the import of products that Montenegro already produces.

Bečić especially emphasised the fact that Montenegro is in the last place in terms of export-import coverage in the region of the Western Balkans, with only 16%. Therefore, as he said, the representatives of the new government will not protect the so-called import lobbies, but domestic producers.

President of North Montenegro Union of cattle breeders Milko Živković expressed great satisfaction with the meeting with President of the Parliament Aleksa Bečić and Prime Minister Zdravko Krivokapić. He assessed that it was an opportunity to see together and directly why the villages are "empty" and why Montenegrin farmers live badly, hoping that the meeting will be the beginning of a nice cooperation between Montenegrin farmers, the Parliament of Montenegro and the Government of Montenegro.

He agreed that import lobbies in Montenegro are the biggest challenge, stressing that products from different areas of the country - from the north, from Zeta, Bjelopavlići, Ulcinj, must find their place in our market.

A farmer from Petnjica and Vice President of the Union, Almin Adrović, said that "it is high time to pay attention to the numerous problems that farmers face every day" and expressed the expectation that the relevant ministry will be able to provide adequate help and support.

The meeting was also attended by a member of the Board of Directors of the Union, Vučko Pešić, who said that the goal of his activities was to keep as many young people as possible in the countryside. He expressed disappointment that so far all promises that the state will invest in the agricultural sector, especially in the north, have remained unfulfilled. "Without a strong agricultural producer, there is no strong state," he concluded.

The farmers stated that they had the pleasure to meet with the Minister of Agriculture and pointed out that it is time to take serious steps that will slow down migration from the north and that will preserve agricultural production, so that Montenegro survives as a state.