Agricultural Co-operatives in the Republic of Slovenia

Predmet je ovoga rada proces tranzicije i prestrukturiranja poljoprivrednih zadruga Slovenije u postsocijalističkorn razdoblju, što je završen pristupanjem Slovenije Europskoj Uniji. Autor u članku ponajprije u sažetu pregledu iznosi temeljne značajke pojave i razvoja poljoprivrednih zadruga na teritoriju Slovenije a potom cjelovito analizira promjene u razdoblju nakon stjecanja samostalnosti i priprema za pridruživanje EU. U prvome dijelu rada razvidno je da su zadruge, što su se u Sloveniji pojavile rano u 19. stoljeću, imale važnu ulogu u razvoju seljačkih gospodarstava, poljoprivrede i sela do stvaranja Kraljevine SHS odnosno Kraljevine Jugoslavije, kad je došlo do osipanja a potom sporog oporavka. Razvoj slovenskoga poljoprivrednog zadrugarstva nakon Drugoga svjetskog rata do osamostaljivanja Slovenije obilježili su učestali zahvati države. Za razliku od toga, tijekom sistemskih promjena nakon osamostaljivanja Slovenije, intervencija je države, uglavnom, ograničena na uređivanje pravnog okvira te na neka specifična rješenja privatizacije čiji je cilj bio osigurati poljoprivrednim zadrugama bolje polazište na prijelazu u kompetitivan, tržišni gospodarski sustav. U godinama neposredno prije pristupanja Slovenije Europskoj Uniji, poljoprivredne su zadruge mogle steći i neke poticaje za prestrukturiranje, ali su slične potpore bile dostupne i poljoprivrednim domaćinstvima i prehrambenoj industriji. Suprotno prijašnjem sistemu, koji je brojne cjenovne i tržišne poticaje za tekuću proizvodnju osiguravao zadrugama i njihovim članovima, poslije 1991. ti poticaji pripadaju fizičkim i pravnim osobama, bez obzira na organizacijski oblik proizvodnje, i poprimaju oblik izravnih isplata, odmičući se sve više od zadruga, ali i od tržišne proizvodnje. Podaci o poslovanju poljoprivrednih zadruga govore kako je posljednjih godina smanjen broj zaposlenih, dok se prosječan prihod po zadruzi unekoliko povećao. Promjenom poslovanja štedno-kreditnih zadruga i osnutkom Seoske banke Slovenije, na nov je način uređeno i kreditiranje. No, proces koncentracije poljoprivrednih zadruga - važan čimbenik jačanja kompetitivnosti - odvija se znatno sporije nego u prerađivačkoj industriji, a poglavito u trgovini na malo. Budući da su mogućnosti kvantitativnog rasta poljoprivredne proizvodnje ograničene, zadrugama predstoji velik izazov učvršćivanja članstva, poboljšanja kvalitete sadašnjih proizvoda i traganja za novim djelatnostima, radi stvaranja nove vrijednosti, kako bi poboljšale pregovaračku poziciju s prerađivačkom industrijom i trgovinom.The subject of this article is the process of transition and restructuring of agricultural co-operatives in Slovenia in the post-socialist period, the process which finished with the Slovenian accession to the European Union. At first, the author presents a short review of the basic characteristics of appearance and development of agricultural co-operatives in Slovenia, and later he analyses the changes in period after Slovenia gained independence and preparing for accession to EU. At the begining of article we can see that the co-operative societis, which in Slovenia was appeared in the early 19th century, have the important role in development of peasant holdings, agriculture and villages till the forming of Kingdom of Yugoslavia, when come to standstill and after that to the slowly recovery. While the history of the Slovenian agricultural cooperation after the Second World War was characterised by frequent interventions of the State, after Slovenia gained independence n 1991, the government\u27s role in this field has been limited to building a suitable legal framework and to the regulation of specific solutions in the privatisation process which were supposed to assure an appropriate starting point for co-operatives at the entrance in the competitive, market economic system. In the recent years before the Slovenian accession to the EU, the agricultural co-operatives were able to obtain same state aid for their restructuring measures, but this aid were not incomparable with the similar support for agricultural holdings and food processing industry. Contrary to the previous system, where numerous price and market subsidies for the current production were provided to co-operatives and their members, the agricultural subsidies after 1991 have been granted to individuals and legal entities regardless of the production organizational form and are continuously shifting towards income payments, i. e. away from the agricultural co-operatives, but also from the market production. The data about the activities of agricultural co-operatives show that in recent years the number of employed person s is decreasing, while the average income is increased in this period. However, the concentration of agricultural co-operatives is moving ahead far slower than in food processing industry, and, above all, in retail trade. As the possible quantitative growth of agricultural production will be limited in the future years, the agricultural co-operatives are heading an immense challenge of consolidation of the membership base. improving the quality of existing products and introduction of new products to increase their value added as well as further restructuring in order to improve their bargaining position with processing industry and trade