Workshops 2010back

Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina hosted the Foundation workshop entitled "Influence of global economic crisis on wholesale markets activities – role of producers organisations in prevailing crisis" on 24-28 October, 2010. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of Agriculture, the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, and the Wholesale Market from Bologna.



On the first day of the workshop, the participants visited three leading fruit logistics companies located in the Neretva Valley and got acquainted with the most advanced post-harvest technologies. The first day of the workshop also included a seminar component with keynote presentations by Michaela Schwaiger (Ministry of Agriculture, Austria), Duccio Caccioni (Bologna WM) and Andreja Martonja-Hitrec (Ministry of Agriculture, Croatia). The seminar was also attended by the Mayor of Opuzen and other representatives of the local government authorities.



On the second day, the participants visited the Čapljina Wholesale Market. After the visit, a meeting with the Management Board of the Čapljina Wholesale Market was held, which was an opportunity to provide detailed information about the company history and its development plans, followed by a Q&A session.



The cultural part of the program in Bosnia and Herzegovina included a visit to a historical centre of Mostar and to Medjugorje.



On the third day, the Foundation plenary meeting held in Dubrovnik focused on the following issues:



• Election of a Vice President of the Management Board, Mr. Fabian Schwartzenberg, General Director from the Bucharest Wholesale Market to replace Mr. George Vodislav from the Bucharest Wholesale Market, election of Mr. Zoran Kovac from the Osijek Wholesale Market as a member of the Programme Council to replace Mr. Ivan Kozic, the Managing Director of the Osijek market, and election of a new member of the Programme Council, Mr. Hafiz Krasniqi, General Director of the Prishtina Wholesale Market from Kosovo.

• The Foundation 2010 financial interim results were presented and discussed.

• Proposals for amendments to the Foundation Statute were presented and discussed. Further decisions concerning the amendments to the Statute are postponed to the Annual Meeting in Berlin in 2011.

• A draft promotion material about the Foundation was approved by the Foundation members.

• Action plan for 2011 – the spring annual meeting will take place in a non-member country (Fruit Logistica 2011, Berlin) and the autumn 2011 workshop will be hosted by a member country.



The cultural program in Croatia included a visit to the old city of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and dinner in a traditional folk restaurant.