The official launch of the Wine, Food, and Tourism Fair “Wine Vision by Open Balkan,” under the patronage of the governments of the Republic of Serbia, North Macedonia, and Albania, was attended by the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, with guests – the Prime Minister of North Macedonia, Dimitar Kovačevski, the President of Montenegro, Jakov Milatović, and the President of the Italian region of Veneto, Luca Zaia, while Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama participated in the program via video link.
Vučić noted that the “Open Balkan” initiative had been established as a platform for wine, creating a market of 20 million consumers. He emphasized that small wineries are driving the development of Serbia’s wine industry, stating that Serbia now has 467 small wineries, which is a tenfold increase compared to five years ago.
He highlighted that some of these small wineries in poor regions of the country had significantly contributed to enriching those regions. Vučić also assessed that local winemakers are making the fastest progress in this part of Europe and the world, and announced an increase in subsidies for establishing new vineyard plantations.
During the four days of the Wine Vision event, Belgrade will host over 600 exhibitors from numerous wineries, distilleries, gastronomic companies, from 28 countries, twice the number of exhibitors from the previous year. Half of the exhibitors will come from Open Balkan member countries, including 260 from Serbia, 74 from North Macedonia, and 21 from Albania. Additionally, this year’s fair includes producers from around the world.
From November 17th to 18th, the Fair will be open to all visitors from 12 PM to 8 PM, and on November 19th from 12 PM to 6 PM. The price of a single ticket is 700 RSD, group tickets are 500 RSD, and family tickets are 1,400 RSD. Parking fee within the fairground is 200 RSD per hour. One-day ticket + car parking is 2,000 RSD, and a three-day ticket + car parking is (November 17th to 19th) 5,000 RSD. Renting a wine tasting glass is 500 RSD.
