Skopje, 13 February 2023 (MIA) – North Macedonia’s Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy, Ljupcho Nikolovski, who is visiting Montenegro on Monday, met with Montenegrin Prime Minister Dritan Abazović and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Vladimir Joković.

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a press release that the goal of the visit is to share our successful IPARD story and the benefits of the Open Balkans initiative.

Minister Nikolovski noted that our country is ready to help Montenegro in facilitating of withdrawal of resources from EU funds by sharing our experiences on the success of the IPARD 2 programme.

“North Macedonia and Montenegro do not have any open issues, but they have a huge space to increase cooperation, communication and delivery of results to the citizens. Therefore, today we talked with the Prime Minister Abazović on two topics, the central role of North Macedonia in the utilization of IPARD 2 funds amounting to EUR 60 million, i.e. 98 percent of the entire budget and with over 2,000 contracts implemented,” Minister Nikolovski said.

Abazović stressed that Nikolovski's visit is an additional impulse for stronger cooperation between our countries, especially in the agricultural sector and food production.

“In addition to tourism and energy, agriculture has the most significant expansion potential. Our goal is to make maximum use of that opportunity in the coming period,” PM Abazović said, according to the press release of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy.

“North Macedonia is a regional example in terms of the utilization of EU funds for agricultural development and production stimulation. Montenegro wants to adopt and implement Macedonian good practices. We are grateful to our Macedonian friends for their willingness to support us,” Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Joković said.

The second topic that interlocutors discussed today was the Open Balkans initiative.

“I believe that in the very near future Montenegro will be the new member country of the Open Balkans and that the citizens of Montenegro will feel the benefits as the Macedonian citizens and the citizens of Albania and Serbia,” Minister Nikolovski noted, explaining all the positive results of the open borders as well as the future plans for new initiatives that bring the member countries even closer to achieving new benefits.