The Vojvodina oil mill Dijamant, owned by the Croatian Agrokor, announced that due to the blockade of its factory in Zrenjanin, it will cease sunflower procurement in Vojvodina and Serbia and will close the factory, which could severely impact oil exports from Serbia, Vojvodina media reported on Friday.
The Dijamant oil mill was blocked on Wednesday by farmers from southern Banat dissatisfied with the low purchase price of oilseeds.
The president of the local Business Community for Industrial Herbs, Olga Čurović, stated that if Dijamant withdraws from sunflower procurement, it would lead to a further drop in the purchase price as that factory procures between 100,000 and 120,000 tons of sunflower annually.
“Growers must keep this in mind,” emphasized Čurović, adding that farmers will not be able to sell sunflowers at last year’s prices when the yield of this crop was poor.
“It is terrible that oil mills have been unable to receive goods or fulfill contractual obligations, i.e., deliver their products to the domestic market or export them since the beginning of the blockade,” said Olga Čurović to reporters after a meeting with Serbian Minister of Trade Rasim Ljajić.
Farmers are demanding to be paid around 40 dinars (2.60 kuna) per kilogram of sunflower, but buyers, namely Dijamant, are offering around 26 dinars (1.70 kuna).
Dissatisfied farmers accuse buyers of colluding into cartels, which gives them a monopolistic position in the agricultural products market.
In addition to the blockade of the largest buyers in Zrenjanin, Nova Crnja, and Pančevo, farmers attempted to drive tractors to the headquarters of the Serbian government in Belgrade, but they were prevented by the police.
