Since Roman Emperors ruled Balkan peninsula, there is much archaeological evidence of wine production on the territory of the today’s Republic of Serbia. However, the first written document showing how production and wine trade was organized, was the Code of Law by the Emperor Dušan the Mighty that ruled in the 14th century. After Ottoman conquests in the region and new rules for alcohol production, grapes have mainly been used for eating and drying. Modern Serbia has set its goal to renew a long tradition and start investing in indigenous wine grapes verities. It is also important to underline that Serbia is on its path to the full EU accession and is now starting the process of introducing EU standards and rules
According to the official Vineyard registry, there are 3.997 grape producers with 150.000t of grapes produced. Vineyards are covering about 22.150ha out of which 6.500ha are for commercial use.
However, only 2.500ha have indigenous wine grape verities that are about 12% of the production of the overall grape. The importance of local taste of wine is recognized among producers and together with growing tourism, it is expected for these numbers to start to change in favor of indigenous wine grape verities.
When it comes to wine producers, there are 353 registered wineries with a total production capacity of 71,5 million liters of wine. Furthermore, most of them are small producers. More than half of them have installed production capacities of less then 20.000l, while 30% has production at the level of 20.000 l to 40.000l. Only 48 wineries produce more than 100.000l, out of which 13 have the capacity for producing more than 1.000.000l annually.
In Serbia, only 7% of all produces wines has Protected Designation of Origin label while 8% holds Protected Geographical indignation label. As already mentioned, these numbers are likely to change in the upcoming years. One of the biggest drivers of change will be EU Pre-accession fund for agriculture – IPARD, This program aims at introducing EU standards and helping local producers gain competitive advantage, preparing them for the unified EU market.
IPARD has a possibility of subsidizing grapes production with up to 60% of the investment costs or 1,5 million euros. Also, wine production can be subsidized with 50% of the investment costs or 2 million euros. It is important to mention that both funds can be used which adds up to 3,5 million euro in subsidies. We believe that is will reshape the Serbian wine industry.
Furthermore, recently Ministry of agriculture announced that wine production will be in focus of developing strategic competencies of Serbian agriculture. Minister Nedimović also said that additional financial resources will be allocated from the State budget in order to secure interest of domestic and foreign investors in the region.
If you consider investing in Serbian wine industry, feel free to contact us at vesna@podrskarazvoju.com or find more information at our website www.podrskarazvoju.com . We have team of market expert and financial and legal professionals, working together to make sure your investment in Serbia are secured and successful.