From the beginning of the following year the employees of Vučijak horse farm in Prnjavor may be facing a brighter future. The government of the Serb Republic has agreed that this company could be reorganized as a public institution, by which it would be entirely owned by the government of the Serb Republic, government ownership being a standard practice in the states of the region.

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Reorganization, which should be finalized by the end of this year, is to facilitate the company’s basic activity - raising a rare breed of Lipizzaner horses, and, most importantly, protecting its genetic potential. “By turning Vučijak into a public institution, joint investments in the horse farm from the government of the Serb Republic and municipal Prnjavor are also to be expected, in accordance with the municipal Prnjavor’s regulatory plan. This should also pave the way for European Union’s funding, which was not possible up till now because horse farm was a limited company,” stated Bojan Kecman, the PR official for the Serb Republic’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.

Their salaries being funded by the government budget, horse farm employees will have financial security. Additional profit will be secured by expanding activity to a horse back riding school, tourist-recreational activities and the like. The employees also hope that the reorganization will end agony that lasted for so many years, because they will certainly keep their posts when on government budget. ”There are 9 workers employed at Vučjak at the moment, and horse farm has 94 horses, all healthy and in good shape. We have also secured food for the winter. The only thing left for us to do is to finish the construction of facilities till winter. We hope that the reorganization of the horse farm will end by that time too so that we may start working at full speed in the new year”, said Brane Petrović, horse farm’s manager up until bankruptcy.

He also said that there are no activities in horse farm for the time being, such as horse back riding school. Petrović hopes that reorganization will create conditions for starting such a school, for this will introduce new activities in Prnjavor, but also create profit for the horse farm.
 
Horse farm Vučijak filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2008.

INFO NOA