Vucevic Tours Kragujevac Wineries, Gruza Rakija Makers
SNS president Milos Vucevic toured Sumadija District on Friday, from a wine cellar in Kragujevac and a distillery in Gruza to a hunting association in Batocina, ahead of the October 25 election.
Milos Vucevic, president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), toured Sumadija District on Friday, September 18, meeting with small producers, winemakers and rakija makers to discuss their working conditions. The visit was not connected to Nemanja Jovanov’s earlier appearance in Kragujevac, where the party opened its campaign in that city with a so called black box. Instead, it followed a separate track and carried a different message, about state help for the countryside.
The first stop was the “Pevac” cellar in Kragujevac. There Vucevic spoke with winemakers, small producers and farmers about what they need to produce, sell and plan for the next season with confidence.
“State support has to reach the people who work, produce and invest, not get lost in procedures. Our job is to protect stability and help top quality products from Sumadija reach more buyers. Wine from this region should carry the name of Sumadija across Serbia and the world.”
That is what Vucevic told his hosts.
From Kragujevac, Vucevic went on to Gruza, where he visited the Aleksic family’s distillery, known for its “Gruzanska zlatna nit” rakija. His host there was Prvoslav Aleksic. Vucevic thanked him for the hospitality and said he is always glad to see the entrepreneurial energy of people building a family business out of tradition.
“Homemade rakija, preserves and winter stores bring in income and keep families in the countryside. Women deserve special support, since their hard work is often not recognized or paid enough. Better packaging, greater visibility and an easier path to buyers mean preserving tradition, growing modern family businesses and keeping people on their own land.”
Vucevic stressed.
The third stop was the “Rogot” hunting association in Batocina, the town where the Hunting Association of Serbia was founded 130 years ago. The “Rogot” association itself was established later, in 1936, but the town’s historical tie to hunting tradition goes back further, and Vucevic pointed to it in his remarks. He said associations like this one hold something that cannot be built overnight: history, nature, tradition and people ready to carry it forward.
“Hunting associations know their region best, they protect nature and look after their community. That is why the state has to talk to them about environmental protection, safety and improving life in the countryside. Only by working together can we preserve our natural wealth and secure a better future for every place in Serbia.”
Vucevic wrote on Instagram.
A Message for the Countryside Ahead of October
All three stops carried the same thread: state aid should reach producers faster, without stalling in procedures. Vucevic framed it as the state’s job to protect stability and clear the path for domestic producers to reach buyers, from vineyards and distilleries to associations that look after nature outside the cities.
The same day, before heading to Sumadija, Vucevic sharply responded on X to Student List leader Ilija Srdanovic, who had spoken in a podcast about how much it means to him to belong to a group of people he considers “free.”
“Ilija Srdanovic and those who pushed him into the spotlight, every hypocritical word of theirs and every low allusion, show exactly the misery of the politics they represent, without ideas, without a program and without a single concrete result.”
Vucevic wrote.
The SNS president added that while Aleksandar Vucic fights for new investment, jobs, infrastructure and stability for Serbia, “fake elitists busy themselves with vulgar insults and street provocations.” He also said it would be brave of Srdanovic to say all of this directly to Vucic, adding that Srdanovic “flees TV debates the way the blockaders flee decency.”
The two moves, a visit to producers in Sumadija and a public clash with an opposition candidate, show two sides of the same campaign: a ground game built on meeting real people on one side, and a sharp political exchange on the other. Vucevic said no attacks can shrink the trust people place in the president or stop Serbia’s progress, “as will be shown on October 25,” pointing to election day as the verdict on both sides of the story.
