Twenty-six flood affected milk producers from Bajina Bašta, Kosjerić, Kraljevo, Lazarevac, Loznica, Obrenovac, Šabac, Svilajnac, Ub and Valjevo will receive milking equipment starting 23 March 2015 to restore their agriculture activities. This type of support will enable milking producers to upgrade their production processes at the same time obliging to safe production requirements of the European Union.
The provision of grants to more than 400 micro and small enterprises in municipalities hardest affected by the floods is underway. Within this lot, greenhouses are delivered to the selected agriculture entrepreneurs, while equipment and raw material are provided to the affected businesses.
The eight-member family Petrović with four children makes living solely from farming, in addition to irregular income of 30,000 RSD. In early 2014, the family took a loan of 400,000 RSD and invested in the construction of an irrigation pond and in planting raspberries on 50 acres to expand the family business.
The floods had destroyed the entire investment, while the family budget was additionally burdened by the loan. The floods also damaged the stables, all field crops, the water washed away the soil from the greater part of the fields owned by this family.
With the European Union support, the Petović family received 3.500 raspberry seedlings, an irrigation system and building material for the reconstruction of stables and the irrigation pond. “Our many years of work were gone in one day! A terrible accident had happened to us and thanks to the help of the EU our household was given a new opportunity. Raspberry plantation means a lot because it is the largest source of income for our family,” explained Dragan Petrović, the household owner.
So far, 103 houses in Obrenovac, Krupanj, Svilajnac, Varvarin, Paraćin, Gornji Milanovac, Bajina Bašta, Šid, Malo Crniće, Valjevo, Osečina, Smederevo, Smederevska Palanka, Požega, Loznica, Ruma and Mionica have been constructed.
As many as 716 flood affected homes have been rehablitated in Obrenovac, Krupanj, Kraljevo, Lazarevac, Svilajnac, Trstenik, Varvarin, Valjevo, Mali Zvornik, Ljubovija, Šabac, Bajina Bašta, Šid, Loznica, Smederevska Palanka, Velika Plana, Čačak, Ub, Koceljeva, Jagodina and Paraćin.
The field verification of additional beneficiaries’ needs for reconstruction is ongoing in Paraćin, Smederevska Palanka, Čačak, Ub, Koceljeva and Jagodina. This is the part of private housing reconstruction process for the total of some 950 in 30 municipalities funded through the European Union Assistance for Flood Relief in Serbia Programme.
