The largest number of cooperatives owned by Croatian war veterans are based in the Split-Dalmatia County area, and 56% of them are engaged in agriculture.
From 2004 until 2017, 484 veterans’ cooperatives used incentive measures, of which the Ministry of Croatian Defenders keeps records.
As Marta Duic/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 12th od August, 2018, according to data, more than a third of the total number of registered cooperatives, more than 1,173 of them, 400 of them are owned by veterans. The largest number of Croatian Veterans’ Associations are active in the area of Split-Dalmatia, Osijek-Baranja, and Vukovar-Srijem County. They are mainly involved in the field of agriculture, with 56 percent of them dealing in some manner with agriculture, 12 percent are involved in tourism, and beekeeping, processing, construction and the production of wood furniture and similar related activities are also on the same list.
Agricultural cooperatives tend to produce honey, native autochthonous products and alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, as well as medicinal and aromatic herbs, from olive oil to essential oils and anything in between. Some of the cooperatives are engaged in the making of souvenirs and wooden toys and jewellery products, and some of them make products such as knitwear, petroleum products, wooden furniture, and are involved in the production of the seedlings of agricultural crops.
The competent Ministry supports the work of such cooperatives within the Program of the professional training and employment of Croatian defenders and their family members, and this program is based on the implementation of active employment policy measures, as well as measures which are oriented towards the social inclusion of Croatian defenders, enabling employment and further economic integration. Agricultural production cooperatives can also apply to tenders from the Rural Development Program.
According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, eleven such cooperatives applied to tenders and obtained almost 23.5 million kuna, the money was then used for the procurement of agricultural machinery and equipment, as well as land on which, among other things, to build their own storage facilities.
When it comes to applying for tenders, Split-Dalmata County cooperatives take the lead with five applications, followed by Dubrovnik-Neretva and Sisak-Moslavina with two, and Zadar and Karlovac counties with one application respectively.
In addition to financial support, the Ministry organises fairs where the cooperatives present their various products, services and projects, and these fairs are held across numerous Croatian cities.
Click here for the original article by Marta Duic for Poslovni Dnevnik
