Subcommittee Chairman Milija Miletic said that agricultural cooperatives are significant not only for the least developed areas in Serbia, but as a developmental opportunity for all agriculture-oriented parts of the country. The 2015 Law on Cooperatives improved the legislative framework, reduced the number of people needed to set up a cooperative, and cooperatives with the status of legal entity are enabled to develop better cooperation with other legal entities and participation in projects and programmes. Cooperatives would be excellent to combat grey economy and improve the budgets of both local self-governments and the Republic, said Miletic.

Nikola Mihailovic, President of the Cooperative Union of Serbia, said that this year marks its 123rd anniversary and that there are 2500 cooperative operating on the territory of the Republic of Serbia, 2000 of which have adjusted to the Law on Cooperatives. Mihailovic also added what had not been covered by the Law – savings and loans cooperatives, but he hopes by-laws would be passed to address the issue. Speaking of agricultural cooperatives, according to financial reports, the 2015 income was 10% lower than in 2014, but so were the expenses and number of employees. Overall out of the more than 68 billion RSD in profit, 72% was realized in AP Vojvodina, and the remaining 28% in central Serbia. According to research, non-specialized cooperatives have earned higher incomes. Cooperative property has proven to be a long-standing problem. So-called communal property which still exists in practice makes it impossible for cooperatives to apply for working capital and similar, and the procedures for converting communal property into public, private or cooperative property take a long time.

Velimir Stanojevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection, said that experience earned in the field has shown that the chance for sustainable agriculture in marginal and least developed areas of the Republic of Serbia lies in cooperatives and vocational farming associations. He also said that, in addition to a great many registered agricultural households, a significant number of agricultural cooperatives also apply for subsidies and stimulation packages.

The sitting was chaired by Subcommittee Chairman Milija Miletic, and attended by Subcommittee members Dalibor Radicevic and MA Marko Milenkovic.