New line for cold processing of string beans put in operation in PIK "Bečej"

New line for cold processing of string beans has been put in operation in PIK "Bečej", and it is the 60th new unit of high technology and the 20th unit of the agricultural processing industry. The Executive Council of Vojvodina has participated in all of these investments, of which total value amounts to 62m EUR, through the Programme for new technologies and new materials whose realization was backed by the Provincial Secretariat of Science and Technological Development with the investment of 15.5m EUR. Thanks to that Programme, 17,210 people have got jobs to the date.

- This new unit in PIK "Bečej" is very significant to all of us in Vojvodina, not only because of the increased volume of production of 1,000 tons of string beans per year, half of which should be exported and bring gross incomes of 500,000 EUR, but also because 52 new jobs will be created: 22 people will be employed in production and 30 people will be hired through various types of cooperation – said Prof. Dr. Dragoslav Petrović, the Provincial Secretary of Science and Technological Development, who put the new vegetables processing line in operation.

The investment value of the new unit in PIK "Bečej" is 60.39m RSD, and the Executive Council of Vojvodina set aside 20m RSD through the Provincial Secretariat of Science and Technological Development.

The CEO of PIK "Bečej", Dragan Satarić, said that that company would celebrate the 50th anniversary in 2009. The new line has built-in modern equipment for cold processing of string beans, which will enable production of quality products, as well as growth of production capacities from 1.6 tons per hour to 3.3 tons of fresh string beans per hour. Thanks to the treatment by modern equipment, the quality of string beans will be improved, which will enable the entrance to the highly demanding European food market.