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The fourth mission was held within the bilateral cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia

After the re-accreditation of the investment measures of the IPARD III program, the IPARD Management Body is working on the preparation of the accreditation of Measure 5 – Implementation of local rural development strategies – LEADER approach. Given the complexity of the preparation process, within the bilateral cooperation between the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food of Slovenia and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of the Republic of Serbia (MAFSV), the Slovenian mission is here to help our Governing Body prepare the accreditation package for Measure 5 LEADER. Through a series of presentations, the Slovenian colleagues presented their way of approaching the mentioned issue. Cooperation is realized through four missions:
In the period from June 17 to 19, 2024, the First Mission was held, with the aim of animating the employees of the MAFSV, as well as preparing the draft information and communication plan for access to the MAFSV.
The second mission was held in the period from July 15 to 17, 2024. The objective of this mission was related to the preparation of draft regulations and procedures for the selection of LAGs, the annual action plan and guidelines for the preparation of local rural development strategies.
The topic of the third mission was related to the establishment of the Network for Rural Development and its role in the implementation of the LEADER approach.
The fourth mission took place in the period from September 25 to 27, 2024. In accordance with the activity plan within this cooperation, the IPARD Governing Body of Serbia submitted a proposal to the Slovenian delegation to visit 4 potential LAGs in Serbia: Fruška gora – Danube, Sremski Karlovci – Kovilj, Rtanj and Katena Mundi.
On Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at the Radulovacki Ecological Center in Sremski Karlovci, starting at 2 p.m., a meeting was held that was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Agriculture from Slovenia, representatives of the LAG Bogatsvo podeželja Ptuj, and representatives of the provincial Secretariat for Economy and Tourism, Local Government and JP Belilo, Partnership for Rural Development Sremski Karlovci – Kovilj (Partnership K-2), Vojvodina Mountain Movement, Dunav 1245, Benišek-Veselinović Winery, Kurjak Winery, Crkvenjakov Brewery from Kovilj, consultants for Ipard and others
The meeting was opened by the president of the K-2 Partnership, he greeted the attendees and introduced the organization. He spoke about the experiences of drafting the most important document, the Rural Development Strategy for the Sremski Karlovci – Kovilj area, in the drafting of which 70 citizens from this area participated, and it was the first submitted Rural Development Strategy of the LAG in Serbia. He particularly emphasized the activity of the members of the organization at the presentation of the part of the strategy within the sector area “Infrastructure”, the operational goal “Better connection of Kovil and Sremski Karlovac”, within the measure “Construction of a cable car (gondola) across the Danube River” where a visit was made to JP “Gold gondola” on Zlatibor, information was exchanged with the director and a conceptual proposal was made for the development project “Danube gondola” which would be a new tourist attraction in this area. He stated that after the adoption of the Rural Development Strategy, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Serbia did not announce the promised annual tenders for small projects, which significantly affected the activities of LAGs in Serbia. Thanks to the municipality of Sremski Karlovci, a small project “Karlovački Dunavac Improvements” foreseen in the strategic document was realized.

Aleksa Jeftić, the president of the Vojvodina highlanders, greeted the attendees and spoke about the idea itself and the way in which this partnership was formed.
The Slovenian representatives informed the audience about the purpose and program of the fourth mission and through a series of presentations presented their way of approaching the mentioned issue. In particular, they presented what the Slovenian LAG looks like in practice, the animation of the LAG area, building the capacity of people in the LAG, the role of the Network of LAGs, as well as the role of local self-government units in the LAG.
The head of the IPARD governing body, Jasmina Miljković, M.Sc., announced the call for proposals for the beginning of the next year and suggested that we start preparations for it already in the fall. She also informed us about the decision of the European Commission that the value of small projects has been increased from 5 to 10 thousand euros, which will significantly increase the possibility of realizing projects for LAGs that pass the upcoming accreditation.
Some details were discussed on several occasions.
During the break, all participants had the opportunity to taste the local products of the present producers from the area of ​​Sremski Karlovci – Kovilj.
A tour of the project was conducted in the field. We set off on foot through the center of Karlovac, where Vladimir Budalić from the Goran Movement presented the cultural and historical significance of our town and the buildings in the center and their historical role. He continued on the Karlovački Dunavac to present the LAG project as well as other projects implemented on this stretch.
The visit ended around 18:00, the guests thanked for their hospitality, information was exchanged between the Slovenian and our LAGs, cooperation in the future and joint participation in one of the invitations from European programs was agreed upon.