The news that an Austrian citizen wanted to sell the Serbian raspberry harvest, which normally amounts to a few thousand tons, at European prices made it into the newspaper headlines in Serbia. Whether the amount mentioned of 80 million Euro will be realised is a matter of wait and see, as the raspberries are still on the shrubs. However, the engagement proves the attractiveness of the Serbian agricultural sector for Austrians.
"For us as Serbia is a strongly agrarian country, it is in many respects an interesting market" Christian Brawentz, Austrian agricultural attaché for Southern Europe says. There is a lot of interest in organic agriculture, a new area in Serbia still. The country has set out to reach the goal of 50,000 HA of organic-biological cultivation in 2015. The Serbian agriculture is structured on a small scale.
Austrian foodstuff and wines still find it difficult in Serbia, because the country does not as yet belong to the EU. However, with effect from 2014 the country will be
allowed entry to horticultural subsidies (IPARD). Agrarian products and food form 20% of all Serbian exports. This sector is the only sector in Serbia with a positive trade balance. The volume of trade in agricultural products with Austria decreased compared to 2008, the year before the crisis, by 4,8%, however. The most important agrarian products being transported to Austria are: raspberries, strawberries, sunflower oil and maize.