Rezekne municipality housekeepers meet at a seminar on co-operation
6 November in the municipality of Rezekne Europe Direct the Information Centre held a seminar in Eastern Latgale, where every interested party had the opportunity to learn about the benefits of the cooperatives, the cooperatives in Latgale, as well as the experience of the European Union (EU) countries in the field of co-operation.
With his experience in shaping and managing the cooperative, the chairman OF the board OF directors OF the agricultural service cooperative “Viļāni” was divided BY Aija Kiserovska, while Ainars Pudulis, chairman of the association “Latgolai i Latvia”,, revealing various examples of co-operation, encouraged entrepreneurs of the region, domestic producers, as well as other active people to seek and build a variety of mutually beneficial forms of cooperation. Similarly, at the time of the seminar, on the basis of the experience of cooperatives IN EU countries, the participants were informed of the potential of cooperatives in Eastern Latgale, thus improving the competitiveness of entrepreneurs in the overall EU market.
As a result of its presentation, Aija Kiserovska of the Management Board of Agricultural Services Co-operative Economy “Viļāni” stressed the importance and perspective of the cooperative. As an example, she mentioned the cooperatives “Viļāni”, which currently combines 354 members: “the quantity of milk collected over the six-year period has increased seven times - from 1062 tonnes in 2009 to 7004 tonnes in 2014.“ Viļānu ”cooperatives are expressed in small and small farmers' cooperatives, as shown by the volume of milk delivered - more than a third of the members of the cooperative are delivered up to 300 kilograms per month, whereas only two members of the cooperative have capacity to supply more than 5000 kilograms of milk per month.”
“The advantage of a cooperative is that there are several internal support mechanisms for members of the cooperative, irrespective of the size of their holdings,“ story Aija Kiserovska ”.“ If necessary, non-interest-bearing loans are issued to members, such as pre-sowing, which may be reimbursed by the transfer of milk or subsidies. It is also possible for farmers to purchase both grassland seed and acidic rolls and mineral feed for cows. In addition, this year we have issued inquiries to 26 members of the cooperative who started the project “Support for the start of entrepreneurship by developing small farms” as well as five members in the new farmers' support project. ”
Aija Kiserovska believes that there should be a need for new cooperatives: “if national conditions are created, they will be more advantageous, then people will seek opportunities, but if the cooperatives are created artificially, they will also end as artificially. Moreover, a strong cooperative can only be a strong, pronounced leader. '
“In comparison with cooperatives in other European Union countries, we are small,“ considers THE leader of THE “Viļānu” cooperative. “Being a big cooperative in a large country is, of course, more financially advantageous and is more stable, but we, as a small cooperative, are not going and looking for new ways of growth.“ For example, in August 2014, the cooperative started home production — the processing of organic raw milk. ”32 co-operative members are owners of organic farms with“ green ”thinking after conviction. It is well known that there is a growing interest in organic products in many parts of Europe: it is a health perspective, so we have started to produce more than 20 types of organic milk production, including skimmed milk, yoghurt, cream, butter and seven types of cheeses, with tomatoes and basil, with garlic, with garlic, greenery, grapes and others. 'As the manager has discovered, the future goal of the cooperative is to expand the production site, buy new technologies, arrange a factory area and develop tourism.
The president of the seminar “Latgolai i Latvia”, Ainars Pudulis, said about a strange type of co-operation – the product of one entrepreneur is like a label and a place of advertising for another entrepreneur, such as Lin bags produced by one entrepreneur as packaging for the production of another entrepreneur, can serve as an advertising area for both. Similarly, Ainars Pudulis called on domestic producers to be information agents: “If the buyer has purchased your product and acknowledged it for good, he has all the information available on the label so that he can find you and buy the product again or suggest to his friends. It is a very effective free advertising,“ emphasizes the Chairman of the association “Latgolai i Latvia”.
It should be noted that Europe Direct the Information Centre in Eastern Latgale also offers other seminars this autumn to inform residents of Rezekne about the various issues that are currently topical. As the Head of the Centre Inta Rimmae told, a seminar on social entrepreneurship will be held on Friday, November 13, at 10.00 Rēzekne municipality, while on 25 November everyone is invited to a seminar on global education, which will also be held in the premises of the municipality of Rezekne.
Madara Laksa
Assistant Head of the Europe Direct Information Centre in Eastern Latgale