The Ministry of Agriculture and Environmental Protection – the Directorate for Agrarian Payments – announced a competition for the conditions and the manner of use of incentives for the promotion of economic activities in the countryside through the support of non-agricultural activities. By announcing the competition, the incentives for improving the rural economy for investments undertaken with the aim of improving the quality of life in rural areas shall be provided through:

1. The program for supporting investments in the construction, expansion and renovation of buildings and purchasing the equipment, as well as for providing food preparation services in rural private houses or rural tourist households with the following types of incentives:
   • The construction of buildings modeled on authentic farmhouses, including the preservation of traditional architecture, for the purpose of providing food preparation services in rural private houses or rural tourist households;  
      
   • The construction, expansion and renovation of bathrooms and the installation of central heating systems and the like, or achieving the purpose of the buildings modeled on authentic farmhouses, including the preservation of the vernacular and traditional architecture, for the purpose of providing food preparation services in rural private houses or rural tourist households;
      
   • The restoration of authentic buildings in the villages – mills, cloth watermills (facilities for spinning cloth) and wine cellars, which  are used in  rural tourism;
      
   • The improvement of related facilities in the spheres of recreation, yard  landscaping and purchase of courtyard furniture for the purpose of improving the demand for and provision of food preparation services in rural private houses or rural tourist households;
      
   • The equipping of facilities for the provision of food preparation services that contribute to rural tourism;
      
2. The program for supporting investments in the purchase of the equipment for practicing traditional crafts that have been certified in accordance with the bylaws governing the activities that are considered to be old, as well as art crafts and traditional handicrafts, with the following types of incentives:
    
3. The purchase of the equipment for the performance of old crafts and involvement in the cottage industry, which are certified in accordance with special regulations.

The deadline for submitting applications is November 15, 2014.  The applications and the necessary documentation for the allocation of incentives are to be submitted by registered mail to The Directorate for Agrarian Payments, Hajduk Veljkova 4-6, 15000 Sabac.

Full text of the competition, along with the accompanying application form for the use of incentives for the promotion of economic activities in the countryside through support for non-agricultural activities, as well as attachments 1, 2 and 3, can be viewed at the following link: http://www.mpzzs.gov.rs/lat/strana/8391/конкурси-и-јавни-позиви

Source: Ministry of Economy andEnvironmental Protection and Coordination Body