Serbian citizens could apply this year for grants from the IPARD program for investing in rural tourism, as this is precisely one of two new measures proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management to the European Commission.
As confirmed by the Ministry, the accreditation package for the two new measures was submitted to the European Commission for opinion on November 8, 2019, and their response is expected early this year.
If accepted by the Commission, this would mean, in the case of a rural tourism development measure, that citizens could apply for EU grants to build and equip rural buildings.
The ministry said that once the accreditation packages were approved, the legal framework for the measure would be adopted and the first Public Invitation would be published.
The second proposed measure concerns technical assistance, that is, support to the IPARD Governing Body of the Ministry for the implementation of activities such as information, education, expert assistance, in order to increase the utilization of IPARD funds and improve the implementation of the IPARD program.
With regard to measures approved by the European Commission and ongoing, three public calls for two measures were issued last year, allowing citizens to apply for funds to invest in the purchase of equipment, machinery, tractors or processing and marketing of agricultural products and fish products. Two public calls for the procurement of equipment in 2019 received about 530 applications, while the public call for investment in processing and marketing of products is still ongoing and will last until 24 February. Namely, the largest sum of 46 million euros has been allocated for investments in processing and marketing of products.
Public calls for the two measures have been in place since December 2017, and a total of 1,306 applications have been received in eight public calls, of which seven have been completed.
The two measures are part of the so-called IPARD II program, and preparations are under way in the Ministry for the development of the IPARD III program, which will assist in the construction of rural infrastructure as well as greater support for young people, reports Srbija Danas.
