MINIĆ: POULTRY MEAT PRODUCTION IN EXPANSION, GOVERNMENT SUPPORTS FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

PELAGIĆEVO, DECEMBER 12 /SRNA/ - Republika Srpska Prime Minister Savo Minić stated after today’s ceremonial opening of a new facility at the region’s largest chicken farm, "Andrić-farm" in Pelagićevo, that this agricultural production in Republika Srpska is expanding and has been brought to perfection.

"With very good cooperation, cooperative production contracts, secure placement, market stability, high product quality, excellent veterinary services, protection measures, and export opportunities, we will have more than 22 million chickens this year alone, which shows that this sector has grown by 300 percent in the past few years," Minić told reporters. The Prime Minister emphasized that this has been made possible by the exceptionally good measures of the Government and the outstanding people, farmers, who organize well and bring production to perfection through innovative technologies. "With this working model and this level of investment, success is of course guaranteed," Minić stated, announcing that the Government of Republika Srpska plans to support an even more significant increase in poultry meat production, especially in the Posavina region and Lijevče Polje. Minić stated that the Government wants to support everything that produces results through the system of agricultural incentives, increasing the number of beneficiaries and ensuring greater security for people involved in this production. The director of "Andrić-farm", Predrag Andrić, told reporters that this company, which is engaged in the raising, transport, and loading of chickens, has a capacity of just under two million chickens per year. The company has been operating for 10 years, and for the past two years, it has been providing contract services for chicken collection and transport. It owns two chicken-loading machines that replace more than 20 workers, which is significant because this sector has faced challenges primarily due to the workforce shortage and the demanding nature of the job, including night work. "In this business, money is no longer the main problem. This is the only agricultural activity that is fully integrated in the sense that we know the price we work for, which makes development much easier, of course, with the support of the Government of Republika Srpska and the Ministry of Agriculture," Andrić emphasized. According to him, the company has invested more than BAM two million this year in the facility that was ceremonially opened today, as well as in communal infrastructure, and they are planning to expand by building four more facilities.