Skopje, 22 July 2022 (MIA) - The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management and the Agency for Financial Support of Agriculture and Rural Development issued Friday a new call for measure 3 from the IPARD II program. Applications can be sent from July 23 until September 6. The funds are intended to support projects envisaging investment for processing and production of milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, fruit and vegetables, processing of cereals, production of mill products, vegetable products and oils, animal fats and wine production. Financial assistance for an individual application is awarded as a grant amounting to 50 percent from the finances of the overall accepted costs of the investments. Speaking at a news conference Friday, Agriculture Minister Ljupcho Nikolovski said at total of EUR 5,280,568 in financial aid has been singled out from EU taxpayers to be invested in modernization of the Macedonian agriculture. "We're proud that North Macedonia has become a leader in the region regarding use of IPARD funds. The country has recorded 97 percent of use of IPARD II grants in the past five years," he said. A total of EUR 97 million in grants has been allocated by the EU to the country for the next IPARD III program, Nikolovski announced. The investment cycle in the Macedonian agriculture in IPARD III program alone in the coming period totals to EUR 210 million, the Minister said, including EUR 97 million in EU grants together with co-financing from the government and the Agriculture Ministry amounting to EUR 30 million. "Procurement of modern agricultural mechanization, high technology equipment for production and processing, construction or expansion of production capacities as well as support to tourism and rural development are some of the projects supported as part of the IPARD program," stated Nikolovski.