STATE FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO COOPERATIVES IN SERBIA

  • Vladimir Zakić Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade
  • Marija Nikolić Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade

Abstract


Co-operatives in the most developed European countries have a tradition of over 150 years, and among first cooperatives founded in the middle of the 19th century were those on the territory of today's Serbia. Until the beginning of the Second World War, Serbia had a developed and successful cooperative system. In the post-war period, there was a degradation of co-operative system and its departure from the basic cooperative values and principles. The transition period during the 1990s brought new problems through privatization and the creation of unresolved cooperative property. The first visible progress in the development of modern Serbian co-operatives was achieved in 2017 through the introduction of state support to existing and new cooperatives in the amount of 200 million dinars. The initial results indicated that this relatively modest financial state support resulted in establishment of significant number of new cooperatives. Accordingly, more than 800 million dinars were allocated from the budget in 2018 to support the development of co-operatives. Significantly increased state support imposes the issue of budget control and preventing potential misuse, such as the establishment of "false" co-operatives solely for the purpose of receiving financial support. Possible embezzlement could cause in the future the suspension of state support to cooperatives, which can be prevented primarily through the improvement of the cooperative audit system.

Author Biographies

Vladimir Zakić, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade
Marija Nikolić, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade

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Published
2019/02/07
Section
Review Paper