Brka Agricultural Cooperative Brcko was founded in 2001 and has continued the cooperative tradition in this area.

Up to now, she has been predominantly engaged in the organized production and sale of milk (up to 5 million liters per year), fruits and vegetables (up to 2000 tons per year), cereals and the sale of raw materials (up to 600 tons per year) in cooperation with over 1000 subcontractors from the Brcko District and surrounding area municipalities (FBiH and RS). The cooperative also markets its products to foreign markets, primarily to the Republic of Turkey. It currently employs 18 full-time workers and up to 30 workers in season. Q2

Significant funds are invested in our own processing facilities. The plans for 2020 are very ambitious."We expect to have a small dairy plant capable of processing 48,000 liters of milk per shift by the end of 2020, a minus 1000+ tonne refrigerator, a 10 tonne / 24h fruit dryer, a 1000 tonne grain silos and 150-grain dryer tons / 24 h. All this would enable the employment of 40 new workers, ”the cooperative said optimistically.

Part of the ambitious plans will be realized with the support of the C2C Fund.

“Through the C2C project, we have procured equipment for packaging, chocolate (product finalization), fruit cutting, gas station, and a transformer station. With this equipment, we can now pack the dried fruits that we will produce in the new processing plant. The daily capacity of our products will be 50,000 bags of fruit chips in the new facility and will provide employment for 30 workers, "they say in Brki.

The value of the SMART HEALTHY SNACKS project is KM 233,718.90, of which the grant is KM 58,674.90. To date, the cooperative has invested over KM 1,000,000 in new equipment and buildings. Another 600,000 KM is planned for the plant to be put into operation. It should be emphasized that this facility will be the first building to satisfy the complete need for electricity from its own solar panels. The project also includes a completely innovative way of solar heating the air needed for drying, which will reduce the need for gas by 90%, saving about 300,000 KM annually.

The cooperative points out that assistance from funds such as C2C is more than welcome.

“The donor understood the need to support companies willing to invest in innovative solutions that should ultimately contribute to society. This was not the case with the local community. The administration is slow and expensive and very burdensome for business, “Brka” said.