Student List Announces Agroparliament, Glamocic Responds

The Student List accused outgoing Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic in a November 14 statement of leaving grain farmers without subsidies, and at the same time announced two new institutions: a citizens’ protector for land preservation and a national Agroparliament. According to N1, Glamocic responded on Sunday morning that there is no money for the second part of the subsidies.

“Outgoing Agriculture Minister Dragan Glamocic is leaving agriculture in a difficult position,” the Student List statement says.

What does the Student List claim about subsidies?

According to the statement, subsidies for grain production have not been paid, and the City of Belgrade annulled all five public calls for subsidies even though the preliminary and final ranking lists had already been published. The list also says Glamocic justified the payment delays by citing the Government’s caretaker mandate and the outgoing authorities’ lack of political legitimacy.

It answered with the line: “However, a technical mandate does not relieve the Government and ministries of institutional responsibility.” The list claims the money is already provided for in the budget and that payment deadlines were set before the Government entered its caretaker mandate.

Annulling the calls, according to the same statement, forces farmers to seek legal protection, which means lengthy proceedings and additional costs. The statement does not give the amounts of the subsidies in question.

Which institutions does the list propose?

The Student List proposes establishing a “Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia for the preservation of land, water resources and food independence,” along with local agroparliaments and an umbrella national Agroparliament. These bodies would, as the statement puts it, enable institutional dialogue among farmers, buyers, storage operators and processors, which the list considers necessary to organize the market. The statement does not specify deadlines or how the institutions would be set up.

The list closed its message about money with the words: “Public money is nobody’s private property.”

What did Glamocic say in reply?

N1 reported at 11:15 a.m. on November 15 that Glamocic had responded to the Student List. According to that report, the minister says the amount of up to 17,000 dinars per hectare was not promised to everyone and that issuing a call without secured funds would be unlawful. He adds that the funds were not spent for unintended purposes and that more than 100 billion dinars has been paid out this year.

Glamocic also said that blockades have consequences for producers, and that the budget under the caretaker mandate has no money for the second part of the subsidies. The two sides thus disagree on whether the payment money is already secured: the list says it is, the minister says it is not.