Izvor: N1 televizija, 22.Jun.2018, 11:39 (ažurirano 02.Apr.2020.)
Serbia's raspberry growers waiting for government answer
The raspberry growers in Serbia said they had cancelled the protests scheduled for Friday, waiting to see whether the government would meet their demands, including the rise in purchasing price of their product.
The raspberry farmers Association's president Dobrivoje Radovic told the Beta news agency they started a new round of talks with the relevant ministries about all their requests.
At the beginning of June, raspberry growers blocked the state road connecting this >> Pročitaj celu vest na sajtu N1 televizija << country with Montenegro after they failed to reach an agreement with authorities on repurchasing price of raspberries.
They halted the protest after the government representatives promised them to talk to the freezer owners, but warned they could not influence the price.
However, Radovic said last Wednesday that the Association agreed with the Agriculture Ministry to continue the picking at a new price for the fruit of 1.05 Euro per kilogram, instead of 0.4 and 0.67 Euro as it was before the growers started their protests.
The growers demanded the price of 1.7 Euros a kilogram.
Apart from a higher price, they requested that the state increased insurance subsidies to 60 from 40 percent for the areas at risk of severe weather conditions.
They also ask the government to build a laboratory in the central town of Cacak to control the quality of the seeds and fruit protection material because “they are suspected to be of low class.”
Radovic said that the Association would decide on its next steps depending on the result of the negotiations with Agriculture Minister Branislav Nedimovic, and Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic regarding all the requests.
"In case they do not meet our demands, the protests will be the ultimate measure,” Radovic said.
