Tönnies arriving to Serbia in late September – First farms in Plandiste, Apatin, Secanj, Odzaci and Calma

The owner of the German meat industry Tönnies, Clemens Tönnies, will come to Serbia by the end of September to finalize the negotiations about the investment in the meat industry in Serbia. This was agreed with Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic on the occasion of his one-day visit to Germany.

As Novosti learns unofficially, the foundations for the first five facilities should be laid down in Plandiste, Secanj, Odzaci, Calma and Apatin.

In December 2015, Serbia adopted the Law on Agricultural Land, which provides a legal framework for lease of agricultural land through investment and enables the implementation of the project. The Government of Serbia also adopted the accompanying Regulation on terms and conditions of the procedure of exercising the right of first refusal to lease agricultural land.

The Memorandum of Understanding between the company and the Republic of Serbia was signed on April 27, 2015, describing the project of investing in Serbia and citing the company's interest in building up to 20 technologically up-to-date pig farms in Serbia. The document says that each farm will have a capacity of 2,500 sows and deliver 65,000 growers a year, and EUR 21 million will be invested in each farm.

Around 15 ha of building land is needed for the construction of each farm, while around 3,000 ha of agricultural land needs to be leased long-term. Representatives of Tönnies said that, to initiate the project, it was necessary to provide locations for the construction of at least 10 farms, in order to guarantee the investment's cost-effectiveness.

The German company was allegedly not interested in buying one of the livestock farms in bankruptcy, as they wish to build facilities in line with their own standards. They need up to 3,000 ha of arable land in order to produce animal feed. The investor is most interested in Vojvodina and Macva, which are known for pig farming.

Tonnies Nemačka

Vlada Republike Srbije

Tonnies

Clemens Tonnies

meat industry Serbia

Government of Serbia

Aleksandar Vucic

Law on Agricultural Land

lease of agricultural land

pig farms Serbia

export of meat Serbia