The First Serbian Agricultural Cooperative was founded in Vranjevo in November 1909. The founders of the cooperative were: Dušan Vujackov, Bogoljub Malešev, Miloš Isakov, Ivan Popov, Nova Dujin, Živa Malešev, Živko Pejin, Nikola Tomašev, Marinko Perić, Arkadije Miletić, Živa Pantelić, Joca Vrebalov, and Isa Tomašev. Dušan Vujackov was elected president of the cooperative, and Bogoljub Malešev was chosen as the manager, who both played a major role in the establishment of the cooperative.
Immediately after its founding, the cooperative elected a management and supervisory board and began its operations. The land leased by the cooperative was primarily cultivated, and it was worked on collectively. There were years when over 100 cadastral acres were cultivated. The cooperative made significant progress until the World War, after which it had to cease its activities, resuming only after the Liberation. After the Liberation, the number of members increased, as did the cooperative's assets. The members began investing money in savings, established sub-cooperatives, and each sub-cooperative managed its operations collectively.
After 1923, the cooperative experienced even greater progress as a reserve fund was created, which became the cooperative's net assets. Since 1923, at the end of each year, income was added to the reserve fund, so today the cooperative has a reserve fund of up to 30,000 dinars. To further strengthen the cooperative's assets, the general assemblies made useful decisions. It was decided that each member must contribute a mandatory deposit of 50 dinars, a share of 100 dinars, and a weekly savings of 2 dinars. This rule also applied to new members who wanted to join the cooperative.
On all these contributions, members receive a good annual interest. Loans are also granted to members under favorable conditions, with interest rates reduced from 18% to 10%. For their contributions, investors receive interest ranging from 6% to 10%. Members are required to visit the cooperative every week, where they are given lessons and educational lectures.
According to the cooperative's rules, the management and supervisory board are primarily responsible for its operations. Each member of the cooperative is also accountable. The reserve fund is the first guarantee for the contributions and loans issued. If the reserve fund is insufficient, the assets of the management and supervisory board, and finally, the assets of all members, serve as a guarantee. The current assets of all cooperative members, including land, houses, and movable property, are worth over 7 million dinars. The members collectively own 470 cadastral acres of land. This year, the members of the cooperative established a dairy cooperative, which will begin operations next year, as there has never been one in the area before.
The above figures show that the First Serbian Agricultural Cooperative in Vranjevo is progressing well, and for it to progress even further—since the progress of the cooperative is the progress of its members—it is necessary to enroll more qualified farmers in the cooperative. This would strengthen the cooperative and its members, and help mitigate the current crisis, which they feel most acutely. It is especially important today for all farmers to unite, as loans from the Agricultural Economic Bank will be distributed through cooperative federations.
This is a brief overview of the status and work of the First Agricultural Cooperative in Vranjevo. For those interested, more information can be obtained every week from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM at the school of the undersigned.
Vranjevo (Banat), October 18, 1929 Manager of the First Serbian Agricultural Cooperative in Vranjevo
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