The importance of subsidies for SME development in the agricultural sector of Serbia

Abstract

Subsidies for the development of agriculture of the Republic of Serbia are an important instrument of agricultural policy that enables improving the position of agricultural holdings in the modern agribusiness environment, but also the business performances of small and medium-sized enterprises that have fulfilled the conditions for their use. As the needs and interests of primary farmers are different in relation to the needs and interests of other entities in the agrarian sector, the emergence of conflicting interests within the sector is not uncommon in lowand middle-income countries. The fact that business entities have different interests and different models of organizational structure implies a focus on the realization of different and uneven business goals. Accordingly, the subjects of research in this paper are subsidies for agricultural development as one of the current forms of institutional support. The subsidies are considered by analyzing their importance for the agrarian sector, aimed at enhancing the business performance of profit-oriented family farms registered as micro, small and medium-sized companies. The aim of the research is to review the types, planned and realized amounts of subsidies that are important for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in the agricultural sector in the period from 2015 to 2019.

Keywords

• subsidies
• national incentives
• agriculture
• smes
• serbia