17 September 2018 - On September 17th, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Milutin Simović, held business meetings with eight entrepreneurs from Nikšić who successfully realised planned investments within this year and received grants from the Ministry of Agriculture through the IPARD programme (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance for Rural Development). The aforementioned investments improved their productivity and competitiveness, created a significant number of new jobs and provided them with the possibility of expanding the cooperative network with Montenegrin farmers.
DPM Simović visited the companies Meat industry "Goranović", meat processing company "INMES-MARK", dairy farms "Srna" and "Nika", "Sirara Miljanić", the plant for processing and drying fruits "Montenomaks", the plant for processing cornelian cherries in Ozrinići and meat processing plant "MINIKO" in Banjani, which all invested a total of EUR 1,470,000 within this year, for which they received grants from the national budget and EU funds in the amount of EUR 620,000.
According to DPM Simović, prior to the realisation of these investments, 262 employees worked in these companies and 3.390 were directly connected to them. Realization of these investments, aside from the improvement of competitiveness, let to 39 new job openings as well as the creation of new opportunities for expansion of the cooperative network. Simović also emphasised the significance of these investments for Montenegrin economy, pointing out that they create new value and ensure business sustainability.
The products of these entrepreneurs are a part of the Montenegrin supply of domestic products, which has been recognized by domestic and foreign consumers. DPM Simović also underlined that the success of these business entities did not arise overnight, nor is it accidental, mainly because those are the entrepreneurs who have preserved and promoted their businesses and the tradition of working ethics for generations.
The main goal of today's business meetings with the entrepreneurs from Nikšić is to gain direct insight into all the challenges they face in business, to hear their vision of development and jointly design their future support programs.
"Successful implementation of these projects will be a very significant impetus for strengthening the agricultural sector in Nikšić and Montenegro. We believe that these successful projects and the generous support measures we have provided will be a powerful incentive for many other hard-working entrepreneurs, especially young people," the Deputy Prime Minister Simović said.
