Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management Sasa Dragin said in Valjevo in the first Serbian-Russian Conference on prunes that Serbia last year exported fresh plums, frozen plums and prunes worth $31 million.

Dragin stated that the total value of exports of fruit from the country last year was $319 million and added that with an annual production of plums greater than 600,000 tonnes, Serbia is in the world’s leader.

The Minister said that the Serbian plum production takes second place in Europe, behind Romania, and fourth place in the world, behind Romania, the United States and China.

He pointed out that plum is a national brand and that the Ministry will continue to invest in raising new plantations.

Russian Ambassador to Belgrade Alexander Konuzin expressed the hope that this meeting will be followed by the signing of new contracts.

Konuzin said that the Russian market is ready to take over the whole amount of prunes produced in Serbia, provided that they are of adequate quality.

Participating at the conference were also the Mayor of Valjevo Zoran Jovanovic and representatives of the National Association of Manufacturers of Prunes and Valjevo Regional Chamber of Commerce, according to a statement from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management.