HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF JOINING COOPERATIVES INTO COOPERATIVE UNIONS IN VOJVODINA
The organisation of cooperatives existing inthe area known today as Vojvodina into cooperative unions started in 1898, when the agricultural cooperatives from Vojvodina founded The Union of Serbian Agricultural Cooperatives, whose base was in Zagreb.
After the WWI there was an immense economic crisis. In achanged socio-economic environment of a newly created country cooperatives, still in a weak position, were aspiring to connect with one another and organise unitedly. For that reason, the cooperatives founded The Union of Serbian Agricultural Cooperatives based in Novi Sad. In the years that were to follow, the majority of the cooperatives from Vojvodina were centered around the Union, along with smaller regional unions which until that moment operated separately. In 1932 The Union of Serbian Agricultural Cooperatives changed its name to The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives. Successful operations of this Union were halted byWWII, during which economic activities of cooperatives and The Union came to a stop. After the end of WWII and socio-economic and political changes, including various changes and political experiments in organisation of cooperatives into unionsthree years after the end of the war, on August 25th 1948 the founding Assembly of The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Vojvodina based in Novi Sad was held in the presence of 357 delegates of unions from 24 districts. The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Vojvodina connected cooperatives in Vojvodina and contributed greatly in their development consistent with the circumstances of then- socio-economic and political system.
Nevertheless, The Union of Agricultural Cooperatives of Vojvodina ceased to operate due to legal provisions of that time, and in 1962 the Union became incorporated into the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vojvodina. The operations of the Vojvodina’s union under the name of The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina was renewed on March 14th, 1975. Under the provisions of The Law on Cooperatives from 1990, the Union was reorganised on February 26, 1991, and in 1997 aligned its organisation with The Law on Cooperatives, adopted in 1996. After the adoption of the Law on Cooperatives in 2015, the Union aligned its legal acts and operations in accordance with the Law the following year.
Since the beginnings of the 1990s and with the introduction of the new freedoms of cooperative organization in accordance with the cooperative legal provisions, a new chapter was opened, and a new path of cooperative organization lying on the original cooperative principles was established. After the aforementioned circumstances and structural changes, The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina entered the XXI century as an indepentent, stable organisation with highly qualified staff and its own property, relying fully on its numerous members and personal capacities.
COOPERATIVE UNION OF VOJVODINA TODAY
The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina today is an independent business and expert organisation, whose members are cooperatives based in the Autonomous province of Vojvodina. More than 95 % of the members are agricultural cooperatives, while other types of cooperatives such as craft cooperatives, hair-salons etc. are present, too.
The Cooperative Union of Vojvodinarepresents interests of cooperatives beforethe public authorities, the governing bodies of the Autonoumous Province of Vojvodina and local self-government, as well as other public and private organisations and institutions.The informative role of the Union, as well as its consultative role is accessible to its member cooperatives, and future farmersin the process of forming new agricultural cooperatives. The Union provides advisory help with the founding, registration and launch of the business.
The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina carries out cooperative audits based on the Decision of Ministry of Economy (No 401-00-00657/2016-06, from April 1, 2016). Apart from its controlling function, the audit also has a pre-emptive and instructive purpose in order to protect interests of cooperatives and their members, and also improving cooperative movement. Encouraging the coorporative movement, improving its image and informing the wider population about the potentials of cooperative organisation is the focal point of activities of The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina. Establishing inter-cooperative relations and the connection of cooperatives with other economic subjects is necessary for improving the position of cooperatives on the market and global economic system.
The Union puts emphasis on organisation of advisory workshops, conferences, educational seminars, fairs and various events participation, for the purpose of expanding knowledge on cooperative movement, but also in order to ameliorate cooperatives’ position on the market and in the society.
The governing bodies of The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina are: the Assembly,
Board of Directors, and Supervisory board. People in charge of the Union are The President of the Union and the Secretary of the Union. The Union has an administrative staff comprised of highly qualified people from different fields of expertise.
The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina have 462 members, which provide jobs for more than 100 000 people (both as employees and cooperants). On average, there is one cooperative per town, while in some parts there are no active cooperatives, although in most inhabitated places various cooperatives operate actively. The Cooperative Union of Vojvodina conducts numerous activities for the purpose of expansion of cooperative movement among farmers who still are not united into cooperatives and expansion of existing cooperatives and its members, thus strengthening the cooperative movement in Vojvodina.
