Agricultural advisory service in Republika Srpska: who to contact in Trebinje

Republika Srpska's public agricultural advisory service is run by the Department for Providing Expert Services in Agriculture (Resor za pružanje stručnih usluga u poljoprivredi), part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management (Ministarstvo poljoprivrede, šumarstva i vodoprivrede). For farmers in East Herzegovina, the nearest office is its Trebinje regional unit (Područna jedinica Trebinje).

In short

• The department was formed by a Government decision after the Government abolished the Agency for Expert Services in Agriculture and the Agency for Livestock Breeding and Selection in 2013.
• The website lists seven regional units: Banja Luka, Prijedor, Gradiška, Doboj, Bijeljina, Sokolac and Trebinje. The five regional offices mentioned on the "About us" and "Advisory work" pages refer to an EU project from 2000 to 2002, not to the current organisation.
• Trebinje unit phone: 059/245-360.
• According to news on the website, in February 2023 the unit presented the 2023 subsidy rulebook in Trebinje, Nevesinje, Ljubinje and Berkovići. In March 2025 the rulebooks were presented in Nevesinje by Ministry representatives together with the head of the department, Igor Tomašević.
• The website does not say whether advice is free of charge.

What the service does

According to the website, advisers inform, counsel and train farmers. The site publishes recommendations on fruit growing, livestock, field crops, beekeeping, agro-economics and rural development, and agro-tourism, as well as expert articles, technical guidelines, handbooks and market prices. The department also monitors plant diseases and pests, runs breeding and selection work and checks productivity on dairy farms.

The site also has pages on subsidies and farm registration, but they give only general information. For the procedure, deadlines and amounts that apply to your farm, ask an adviser and read the current subsidy rulebook.

Who it applies to

The site says the service is meant for agricultural producers and other businesses in agriculture. A registered farm is not listed as a condition, but check this too on your first call.

What to do

1. Call 059/245-360 and say which municipality you are in, what you produce (fruit, vines, livestock, bees) and what you need.
2. Ask whether you have to pay for advice, whether the Trebinje unit covers your municipality and whether an adviser can visit your farm. The site gives no list of the municipalities the unit covers, and its news does not mention lectures in Bileća or Gacko.
3. Ask for the exact office address before you travel.

Where to go

Trebinje regional unit, Department for Providing Expert Services in Agriculture:

• Phone: 059/245-360. The same number appears on both contact pages.
• The "Contact" page (last changed in April 2025, according to the site) lists only Igor Tomašević for Trebinje, senior expert associate for fruit growing and viticulture, at Vožda Karađorđa 1, Trebinje. A news item on the site from March 2025 presents him as head of the department.
• The older "Advisers map" page (last changed in October 2024) also lists the unit head Borislav Milivojević and Olga Vidačić, senior expert associate for livestock, the address Luke Petkovića bb, Trebinje, and the unit email psstr@teol.net.
• Before you visit, confirm the address, the email and who currently works in the unit by phone.

Laws and sources

• Contact, Department for Providing Expert Services in Agriculture
• Advisers map
• About us
• Advisory work
• Presentation of the rulebooks in Herzegovina (2023)
• Subsidy rulebooks presented (2025)