prikaz knjige PRIVILЕGОVАNА АGRАRNА BАNKА · PDF file158 Bankarstvo 2 2014 P romocija knjige Dragane Gnjatović Privilegovana agrarna banka - Prilog istoriji poljoprivrednog

156 Bankarstvo 2 2014

PRIVILЕGОVАNА АGRАRNА BАNKА

- PRILОG ISTОRIЈI PОLЈОPRIVRЕDNОG

KRЕDITА SRBIЈЕ 1836-1947

Monografija prof. dr Dragane Gnjatović „Privilеgоvаnа аgrаrnа bаnkа, Prilоg istоriјi pоlјоprivrеdnоg krеditа Srbiје 1836-1947” bavi se jednim od najvažnijih društveno-ekonomskih procesa koji su obeležili istoriju srpske i jugoslovenske države, zbog čega predstavlja izuzetno vredan doprinos ekonomskoj, političkoj i

društvenoj istoriji Srbije u XIX i prvoj polovini XX veka. Ona ne samo da oslikava i tumači razvoj Privilеgоvаne аgrаrne bаnke u periodu od njenih početka pa do raspada Kraljevine Jugoslavije već daje i sjajan doprinos izučavanju istorije zemljoradničkog kredita Srbije u periodu od 1836. do 1947. godine. Iako po svojoj suštini stručna, ova monografija napisana je pregledno i sistematizovano, jasnim i istovremeno prepoznatljivim stilom, uz to tehnički izuzetno raskošno opremljena, zbog čega verujemo da će lako naći put ne samo do stručne već i do šire čitalačke publike.

prikaz knjige

157Bankarstvo 2 2014

PRIVILEGED AGRARIAN BANK - A CONTRIBUTION

TO THE HISTORY OF AGRICULTURAL CREDIT IN SERBIA

1836-1947

The monograph by Prof. Dr Dragana Gnjatovic, Privileged Agrarian Bank - A Contribution to the History of Agricultural Credit in Serbia 1836-1947, deals with one of the most significant social and economic processes that left a mark in the history of the Serbian and Yugoslav state, which is why it represents an extremely valuable contribution to the economic, political and social history of Serbia in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Not only does it depict and interpret the development of the Privileged Agrarian Bank since its origination until the disintegration of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but it also serves as a wonderful contribution to the study of agricultural credit history in Serbia in the period from 1836 to 1947. Although in its essence an expert piece of writing, this monograph has been well laid out, systematically organized, written in a clear and colloquial style, very richly illustrated and elaborately prepared in technical terms, which is why we believe it will easily find its way not only to the professional, but also the wide general readership.

book review


Promocija knjige Dragane Gnjatović Privilegovana agrarna banka - Prilog istoriji poljoprivrednog kredita Srbije

od 1836-1947. godine u izdanju Udruženja banaka Srbije održana je 25. marta ove godine uz prisustvo brojnih ljubitelja knjige. Redovni profesor Univerziteta u Kragujevcu, Fakultet za hotelijerstvo i turizam je i dugogodišnji saradnik časopisa Bankarstvo. Rezultat ove uspešne saradnje je i njeno članstvo u redakciji i angažovanje kao recenzenta pojedinih autorskih tekstova za naš časopis. Najveći broj radova u Bankarstvu posvetila je Privilegovanoj agrarnoj banci. Počev od poslednjeg broja Bankarstva u 2009. godini pa do poslednjeg broja u 2011. godini Dragana je u svakom broju svoje autorske radove posvetila ovoj temi. Ukupno ih je bilo 13.

Svako ko je bar jedan od ovih priloga pročitao uživao je u obilju do sada skoro nepoznatih podataka iz naše daleke prošlosti, lepom knjižnom jeziku i zanimljivom iskazu. Osim toga, što knjigu čini još interesantnijom su i adekvatne ilustracije i kopije značajnih dokumenata. Zbog toga je i razumljiva konstatacija da je knjiga pisana i za vrsnog znalca istorije, ekonomije i bankarstva, ali i za laika. Time ona dobija još i više na kvalitetu.

O knjizi Dragane Gnjatović govorili su dr Veroljub Dugalić, generalni sekretar UBS, glavni i odgovorni urednik časopisa Bankarstvo i njen recezent, kao i druga dva recezenta: profesor Žarko Lazarević i profesor Vesna Aleksić.

Prof. dr Veroljub Dugalić

Kvalitetan istraživački poduhvat

Sa velikim zadovoljstvom predstavljamo vam knjigu Dragane Gnjatović u izdanju Udruženja banaka. Autor je svojim kvalitetnim delom i istraživanjem o seljačkim kreditima i Privilegovanoj banci koje je zahtevalo mnogo vremena, truda i brojnih izvora svakako zaslužio da se objavi i javnost upozna sa mnogim, dosad neobjavljenim, podacima. Vrstan poznavalac istorijskog nasleđa kada su banke i finansije naše zemlje u pitanju i ranije je u timskom radu na drugim knjigama pokazala izuzetnu marljivost, tačnost, istrajnost i stručnost, te nismo, kao izdavači, ni sumnjali u kvalitet knjige koja je danas pred vama.

Prof. dr Dragana Gnjatović

Izveštaji Udruženja banaka neprocenjiv izvor podataka

Istraživanje o istoriji poljoprivrednog kredita Srbije i u sklopu toga o osnivanju i radu Privilegovane agrarne banke oslanjalo se prvenstveno na izvore drugog reda jer je u nemačkom bombardovanju Beograda 6. aprila 1941. sedište Banke bilo pogođeno zapaljivom bombom i tada je izgorela sva bančina arhiva.


The launch of Dragana Gnjatovic’s book Privileged Agrarian Bank - A Contribution to the History of Agricultural Credit in

Serbia 1836-1947, published by the Association of Serbian Banks, was held on 25 March 2014, and attended by many book lovers. As a full-time professor at the University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Hotel Management and Tourism, she has been the associate of Bankarstvo Journal for many years. The result of this successful cooperation is also her membership in the Editorial Board, and her engagement as a reviewer of certain original texts to be published in our journal. Most of her papers in Bankarstvo have been devoted to the Privileged Agrarian Bank. Starting from the last issue of Bankarstvo in 2009 until the last issue in 2011, in each issue Dragana dedicated her original papers to this topic. There were 13 of them in total.

Anyone who has read at least one of these contributions enjoyed the abundance of previously almost unknown facts from our distant past, in combination with a beautiful literary style and attention-grabbing narration. Moreover, what makes this book even more interesting are the adequate illustrations and copies of relevant documents. This is why it is an understandable thing to say that this book has been written both for a brilliant connoisseur of history, economy and banking, and for a layman. This only adds up to its quality.

A speech about Dragana Gnjatovic’s

book was given by Dr Veroljub Dugalic, ASB Secretary General, Editor-in-Chief of Bankarstvo Journal, and reviewer of the book, along with two other reviewers: Professor Zarko Lazarevic, and Professor Vesna Aleksic.

Prof. Dr Veroljub Dugalic

High-Quality Research Endeavour

It is our greatest pleasure to present to you the book by Dragana Gnjatovic, published by the Association of Serbian Banks. Owing to her high-quality study and research about agricultural loans and Privileged Agrarian Bank, which required a lot of time, effort and numerous sources, the author certainly deserved to get this book published, thereby introducing the public with many, previously unpublished, facts. An exquisite connoisseur of historical heritage when it comes to banks and finances of our country, in the previous team projects concerning other publications she has already demonstrated remarkable diligence, accuracy, perseverance and expertise, hence, as publishers, we never doubted the quality of the book we present to you today.

Prof. Dr Dragana Gnjatovic

Reports of the Association of Banks as a Precious Source of Data

The research about the history of agricultural credit in Serbia, and within it, about the establishment and activities of the Privileged Agrarian Bank, primarily relied on secondhand sources, because in the German bombing of Belgrade on 6 April 1941, the Bank’s headquarters were hit by a bomb, and all Bank’s archives were destroyed in the fire. Therefore, the business reports of the Association of Banks Belgrade, covering the first 20 years of its operation, were of utmost importance for me. All the more because the Association of Banks Belgrade played the key role in the establishment of a development agricultural bank which was one of the most powerful institutions in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in terms of capital. These

Prof. dr Veroljub Dugalić


Zbog toga, poslovni izveštaju Udruženja banaka Beograd iz prvih 20 godina njegovog poslovanja bili su mi od neprocenjivog značaja. Ovo tim pre što je Udruženje banaka Beograd odigralo ključnu ulogu u osnivanju razvojne poljoprivredne banke koja je bila jedna od kapitalom najsnažnijih institucija u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji. Ovi poslovni izveštaji su neiscrpni izvori informacija za dalja istraživanja iz oblasti istorije bankarstva Srbije i Jugoslavije i bilo bi korisno za buduće generacije istraživača da Udruženje banaka Srbije objavi njihov reprint.

Zahvaljujem se prof. Veroljubu Dugaliću, generalnom sekretaru Udruženja banaka Srbije što je omogućio da ova knjiga bude objavljena. Zahvaljujem se njemu, kao i prof. Žarku Lazareviću i prof. Vesni Aleksić kao recenzentima koji su svojim korisnim sugestijama pomogli u oblikovanju finalne verzije rukopisa. Takođe, posebno se zahvaljujem prof. Vesni Aleksić koja je priredila indeks pojmova za srpsko izdanje knjige.

Prof. dr Vesna Aleksić, Institut ekonomskih nauka, Beograd

Naučna obrada istorije državnih banaka 19. i prve polovine 20. veka

Prof. Gnjatović je monografiju podelila na dve velike tematske celine, u okviru kojih se

nalazi trinaest poglavlja (pet u prvoj i osam u drugoj celini). Tako se prvo poglavlje bavi prvim merama kreditne politike u Srbiji posle 1836. godine. U drugom poglavlju su obrađeni načini na koje su zemljoradnici preko zelenaša dolazili do prvih kredita. Treće poglavlje obuhvata rad prve institucije za finansiranje razvoja poljoprivrede u Srbiji - Zemljoradničke kreditne zadruge. U četvrtom poglavlju autorka se bavi stanjem poljoprivrednog kredita u trenutku osnovanja Kraljevine SHS i zakona koji su se odnosili na ovaj problem na teritoriji Srbije, dok u poslednjem, petom poglavlju ove prve tematske celine, obrađuje istu temu iz zakonodavne perspektive Austro-Ugarske.

U okviru druge tematske celine hronološki je obrađeno osnivanje i rad Privilegovane agrarne banke u periodu od 1929. do 1947. godine. Prva dva poglavlja ove celine posvećena su doprinosu pojedinaca i institucija u osnivanju ove banke. Treće poglavlje se bavi vremenom samog osnivanja banke i istorijskim značajem ovog događaja u privrednoj, ali i političkoj istoriji Srbije i Kraljevine Jugoslavije. U četvrtom i petom poglavlju obrađena su dva najznačajnija zadatka banke: refinansiranje zemljoradničkih dugova i kreditiranje poljoprivrednog zadrugarstva. Šesto poglavlje posvećeno je moratorijumu zemljoradničkih dugova, dok se sedmo poglavlje bavi ulogom Privilegovane agrarne banke kao likvidacione banke. Osmo i poslednje poglavlje ove knjige posvećeno je načinima na koje je ova banka nacionalizovana posle Drugog svetskog rata.

Vraćajući se u vreme kada je knez Miloš ukazom iz 1836. godine zabranio zaduživanje poljoprivrednog egzistencijalnog minimuma, prof. Gnjatović ukazuje da su upravo u toj odluci nalaze koreni “gotovo vekovnog zastoja u razvoju kredita u Srbiji”. Zakon o okućju zabranjivao je malim zemljoposednicima uzimanje zajma na hipoteku, što će dodatno uzrokovati njihovo okretanje zelenašima i zelenaškim provincijalnim bankama. Posledično, ovo je, kako autorka dokazuje, dovelo do dodatnog osiromašenja srpskog seljaka. Nedostatak kapitala bio je na taj način odlučujući uzrok toga što u Srbiji nije došlo, u većoj meri, do intenziviranja i racionalizacije poljoprivrede.

Pored toga što prati ogromne ekonomsko-socijalne promene koje je Srbija doživljavala

Prof. dr Dragana Gnjatović


business reports serve as inexhaustible sources of information for further research in the field of banking history in Serbia and Yugoslavia, and it would be useful for the future generations of researchers if the Association of Serbian Banks published their reprint.

I am largely indebted and grateful to Professor Dr Veroljub Dugalic, Secretary General of the Association of Serbian Banks, for having enabled this research to be published. I hereby express my sincerest gratitude to other two reviewers as well, Prof. Zarko Lazarevic and Prof. Vesna Aleksic, whose valuable suggestions contributed to the preparation of the final version of this study. Also, I would like to thank Prof. Vesna Aleksic in particular, for having prepared the glossary of terms for the Serbian edition of the book.

Prof. Dr Vesna Aleksic, Institute of Economic Sciences, Belgrade

Scientific Treatment of State Banks’ History in the 19th and the first half of the 20th Century

Prof. Gnjatovic divided her monograph into two large thematic sections, further divided into thirteen chapters (five in the first, and eight in the second section). Thus, the first chapter deals with the first credit policy measures in Serbia after 1836. The second chapter examines the ways in which farmers, through loan-sharks, obtained their first loans. The third chapter focuses on the activities of the first institution for financing agricultural development in Serbia - Agricultural Credit Cooperative. In the fourth chapter the author elaborates on the position of agricultural credit at the time of the establishment of the Kingdom of SCS, and the laws concerning this problem at the territory of Serbia, whereas in the final, fifth chapter of this first thematic section, she sheds light on the same topic from the perspective of Austro-Hungarian legislation.

The second thematic section chronologically follows the establishment and activities of the Privileged Agrarian Bank in the period from 1929 to 1947. The first two chapters of this section are dedicated to the contribution of individuals

and institutions to this Bank’s establishment. The third chapter covers the time since the very establishment of the Bank and the historical significance of this event in the economic, but also political history of Serbia and Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The fourth and fifth chapters focus on two most significant tasks of the Bank: refinancing of farmers’ debts and crediting of agrarian cooperative farming. The sixth chapter is devoted to the moratorium on agrarian debts, whereas the seventh chapter examines the role of the Privileged Agrarian Bank as a liquidation bank. The final, eighth chapter of this book highlights the ways in which this Bank was nationalized after the Second World War.

Going back to the time when Prince Milos, by issuing his 1836 ordinance, forbade the peasants to go into debt above their farming existential minimum, Prof. Gnjatovic underlines that it is exactly this ordinance that is the root of “an almost century-long delay in the development of credit policy in Serbia”. The so-called homestead law prohibited small landowners to take mortgages, which additionally caused them to turn to loan-sharks and loansharking provincial banks. Consequently, as the author proves, this led to even further impoverishment of the Serbian peasants. Lack of capital was, thus, the decisive reason why in Serbia there was no intensification and rationalization of agriculture to a higher degree.

Prof. dr Vesna Aleksić


tokom svog razvoja u XIX i prvoj polovini XX veka, prof. Gnjatović u drugom delu knjige veliku pažnju posvećuje i pozitivnom preobražaju zemljoradničke radne snage uslovljene sve većim mogućnostima dolaska do povoljnih kredita za unapređivanje poljoprivredne proizvodnje. Analiza preokreta u politici poljoprivrednog kredita, do kojeg dolazi u Kraljevini SHS, lična angažovanja pojedinaca, kao što je bio dr Velizar Janković, ili institucija poput Udruženja banaka - Beograd, samo dodatno upotpunjuju ovu sliku. Refinansiranje ogromnih zemljoradničkih dugova i pokušaji kreditiranja poljoprivrednog zadrugarstva, bile su jedne od najvažnijih ekonomskih ali i političkih tema koje su potresale Kraljevinu Jugoslaviju tokom njenog trajanja, a kojima je autorka kroz odličnu analizu posvetila naročitu pažnju. Uz to, u uslovima duboke agrarne i opšte ekonomske krize do koje je u Kraljevini došlo od 1931. godine, kada je država nastojala da od akcionarskih banka i privatnih lica odloži zemljoradnicima otplatu dugova na šest meseci, autorka zapravo objašnjava da se radilo o kupovini vremena za donošenje odluke o konačnom rešenju problema nesrazmere između krizom uništenih poljoprivrednih prihoda i nagomilanih finansijskih obaveza zemljoradnika. Ona u ovoj knjizi pokazuje da se provizorno stanje „seljačkog moratorijuma“ neobično dugo produžilo, sve od 1936. godine, zato što banke nisu bile spremne da se jednostrano odreknu svojih potraživanja od zemljoradnika, dok država nije imala novca da im ova potraživanja kompenzira. Jedna od značajnih tema za ekonomsku istoriju Srbije i Kraljevine Jugoslavije, koja je u ovoj knjizi dobila zasluženo mesto, jeste upravo pretvaranje Privilegovane agrarne banke u likvidacionu banku. Zahvaljujući ovoj analizi čitalac dobija potpuni uvid u to kako se Uredbom o likvidaciji zemljoradničkih dugova, Privilegovana agrarna banka, koja je prvobitno bila zamišljena kao glavni finansijer razvoja poljoprivrede u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji, pretvorila u puku državnu likvidacionu banku.

Posebnu vrednost ove knjige vidimo i u tome što se autorka, po prvi put u srpskoj i jugoslovenskoj naučnoj istoriografiji, pozabavila načinima na koji je jedna državna banka iz vremena Kraljevine, nastavila da radi tokom socijalističkog perioda, kao i načinima na koje je do 1947. godine likvidirana. Izneti su

podaci koji pokazuju da je pod okupacijom, sa rasparčavanjem državne teritorije Jugoslavije i njenog monetarnog i finansijskog prostora, Privilegovana agrarna banka bila razbijena na više samostalnih ustanova. Neposredno posle rata, ova specijalizovana institucija za poljoprivredni kredit je povratila svoj predratni formalno-pravni status, ali za kratko. Razloga je više, a autorka, kao najvažnije, navodi uništavanje dokumentacije u sedištu Banke u Beogradu tokom rata, zbog čega nije bilo valjanih dokaza o stanju njenih bilansa, a njihova rekonstrukcija prvenstveno je zavisila od rekonstrukcije portfelja predratnih zemljoradničkih dugova koje je bilo nemoguće dokumentovati na pouzdan način. Takođe, u toku priprema za uvođenje centralno planske privrede u Jugoslaviji, Banka je nacionalizovana i preimenovana u Zadružnu i poljoprivrednu banku, čime je izmenila vlasničku strukturu i metode upravljanja, da bi, 1947. godine, bila fuzionisana sa Narodnom bankom FNRJ, čime je i zvanično prestala da postoji. Portfelj predratnih zemljoradničkih dugova tada je preuzela Državna investiciona banka, ali pitanje ovih dugova nikada nije do kraja rešeno.

Prof. dr Žarko Lazarević, Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino, Ljubljana

Poljoprivredni krediti u Srbiji - centar istraživačke analize

Knjiga profesorke Dragane Gnjatović je jedna od retkih naučnih radova, koji je posvećen Privilegovanoj agrarnoj banci, instituciji koja je u Jugoslaviji, između dva rata, odigrala veoma značajnu ulogu u finansijskoj konsolidaciji poljoprivrede. Autorka je temu proširila i postavila kao poslednju u procesu mera za redefinisanje formalnih institucija za poljoprivredni kredit u Srbiji od sredine 19. veka pa do likvidacije Privilegovane agrarne banke, neposredno posle Drugog svetskog rata. To svedoči o ambicioznosti rada i trudu sagledavanja vrlo kompleksnog istorijskog problema u njegovoj celini. S obzirom na istorijske prilike to predstavlja istraživanje konteksta i mehanizma za ograničavanje uloge neformalnog sektora u kreditiranju poljoprivrede. Neformalni kreditni sektor je


In addition to following the huge economic and social changes that Serbia underwent in the course of its development in the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, in the second part of her book, Prof. Gnjatovic pays a lot of attention to the positive transformation of farming work force, conditioned by the increasing possibilities for obtaining more favorable loans aimed at agricultural production advancement. The analysis of certain shifts in the agrarian credit policy, which took place in the Kingdom of SCS, along with personal engagement of individuals, such as Dr Velizar Jankovic, or institutions like Association of Banks - Belgrade, add up to make this picture complete. Refinancing enormous farmers’ debts and attempts at crediting agrarian cooperative farming were among the most significant economic and political topics that shook the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during the times of its existence, which the author, through an excellent analysis, particularly highlighted. Furthermore, at the times of deep agrarian and general economic crisis which hit the Kingdom in 1931, when the state was striving to persuade shareholding banks and private persons to postpone the repayment of farmers’ debts to six months, as the author of this monograph explains, the idea was actually to buy more time to make the decisions concerning the final solution to the problem of disproportion between the agrarian revenues decimated by the crisis, and the accumulated financial liabilities of farmers. In her book, the author shows that the provisionary state of the “farmers’ moratorium” was prolonged for an unusual period of time, until 1936, because banks were not willing to unilaterally renounce their receivables from farmers, whereas the state had no money to compensate these receivables to them. One of the relevant topics for the economic history of Serbia and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which was in this book given the place it deserves, is the transformation of the Privileged Agrarian Bank into a liquidation bank. Owing to this

analysis, the readers are granted full insight into how the Decree on Agrarian Debts Liquidation made the Privileged Agrarian Bank, originally intended to be the main financier of agricultural development in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, transform into a mere state liquidation bank.

Particular value of this book is also reflected in the fact that the author, for the first time in the Serbian and Yugoslav scientific history, dealt with the ways in which a state bank from the times of the Kingdom, continued to operate during the socialist era, and the ways in which it was, up to 1947, liquidated. The author presents the data indicating that under occupation, in parallel with the disintegration of the state territory of Yugoslavia and its monetary and financial capacity, the Privileged Agrarian Bank was broken down into several independent institutions. Immediately after the war, this specialized institution for agricultural credit regained its pre-war formal and legal status, but not for long. Reasons are multiple, but the author, as the most important one, lists the destruction of documentation at the Bank’s headquarters in Belgrade during the war, which is why there was no solid proof about the position of its balances, and their reconstruction primarily depended on the reconstruction of the portfolio of pre-war agrarian loans that were impossible to document in a sufficiently reliable manner. Moreover, as part of the preparations for the introduction of centralized planned economy in Yugoslavia, the Bank was nationalized and renamed into


naime sa nesrazmerno velikim kamatama bio jedan od temeljnih uzroka nemogućnosti restrukturiranja i modernizacije poljoprivrede u Srbiji. Uključivanje u neformalne oblike kreditiranja, zbog ogromnog raskoraka između prihoda u poljoprivredi i kamatnih stopa, značilo je otuđivanje nesrazmerno velikog dela dohotka, što je vodilo u ekonomsku propast dužnika.

Na području ekonomske istorije rad profesorke Gnjatović o Privilegovanoj agrarnoj banci je dobrodošla novost. U centar istraživačke analize je postavila pitanje poljoprivrednog kredita kao ključne političke mere za

unapređenje poljoprivrede. Iz njene analize moguće je jasno zaključiti, da se u srpskom primeru radi o dve faze, o dve forme institucionalizacije krediranja poljoprivrede. Pred Prvi svetski rat na temelju privatne inicijative u formi zadrugarstva, kojeg je materijalno potpomogla i država. U drugom periodu radi se o institucionalizaciji u formi državne inicijative, u obliku paradržavne banke. Dva pristupa u dva različita društvena i ekonomska konteksta.

Autorka je, na temelju opsežne empiričke podloge i relevantne literature, uspela na razini problemskih tema sintetički prezentovati institucionalizovanost i dileme kreditiranja poljoprivrede u Srbiji do Drugog svetskog rata. U metodološkom smislu karakterističan je koherentan pristup, koji je utemeljen na jasnoj istoriografskoj i ekonomskoj argumentaciji. Naučni rad profesorke Gnjatović naime odlikuje i interdisciplinarni pristup. Istoriografska metodološka polazišta efektivno kombinuje sa metodološkim kategorijama i k o n c e p t u a l n i m aparatom ekonomske nauke. Interpretacije se baziraju na relevatnim istorijskim izvorima i na aktuelnoj stručnoj i naučnoj literaturi. Knjiga Dragane Gnjatović o Privilegovanoj agrarnoj banci je značajan doprinos ka kompletnijoj slici finansijske istorije i istorije k r e d i t n i h i n s t i t u c i j a za potrebe poljoprivrede u Srbiji.


the Cooperative and Agricultural Bank, which entailed the changes in its ownership structure and management methods, after which, in 1947, it was merged with the National Bank of the FPRY, which marked the official end of its prior existence. The portfolio of pre-war farmers’ debts was then taken over by the State Investment Bank, but the issue of these debts was never completely solved.

Prof. Dr Zarko Lazarevic, Institute of Contemporary History, Ljubljana

Agricultural Credit in Serbia - Centre of Research and Analysis

The book by Professor Dragana Gnjatovic is one of the few scientific studies dedicated to the Privileged Agrarian Bank, an institution which in Yugoslavia, in between two wars, played an extremely important role in the financial consolidation of agriculture. The author expanded the topic, covering a series of measures for redefining formal institutions for agricultural credit in Serbia from the middle of the 19th century to the liquidation of the Privileged Agrarian Bank, immediately after the Second World War. This testifies to the ambitious approach and effort invested in investigating a rather complex historical issue in its entirety. Given the historical circumstances, this represents a research of the context and mechanism for limiting the role of the informal sector’s role in the crediting of agriculture. The informal credit sector, namely, with its non-proportionately high interest rates, was one of the fundamental reasons for the impossibility to restructure and modernize agriculture in Serbia. The involvement of informal forms of crediting, due to the enormous discrepancy between the revenues in agriculture and interest rates, actually implied the alienation of a non-proportionately large section of revenues, which led to the economic downfall of debtors.

In the field of economic history, the research of Professor Gnjatovic concerning the Privileged Agrarian Bank is good news. She brought the issues of agricultural credit, as the key policy measure for agricultural advancement, into the centre of research

analysis. Based on her analysis, it is possible to draw a clear conclusion that the example of Serbia involves two stages, two forms of agricultural crediting institutionalization. Prior to the First World War, on the grounds of a private initiative in the form of cooperative farming, materially supported by the state. And in the second period, the institutionalization in the form of a state initiative, i.e. a para-state bank. Two approaches in two different social and economic contexts.

Based on the comprehensive empirical foundations and relevant literature, the author managed to cover the problem issues and synthetically present the institutionalization and dilemmas concerning agricultural credit in Serbia until the Second World War. Methodologically speaking, what is characteristic is the coherent approach, based on the clear historiographic and economic argumentation. The scientific study of Professor Gnjatovic, as a matter of fact, also features an interdisciplinary approach. The historiographic methodological foundations are effectively combined with the methodological categories and conceptual apparatus of the economic science. Her interpretations are based on relevant historical sources and the current expert and scientific literature. The book by Dragana Gnjatovic about the Privileged Agrarian Bank is a significant contribution to a more comprehensive picture of the financial history and history of credit institutions supporting agriculture in Serbia.

Prof. dr Žarko Lazarević

Documents

prikaz knjige PRIVILЕGОVАNА АGRАRNА BАNKА · PDF file158 Bankarstvo 2 2014 P romocija knjige Dragane Gnjatović Privilegovana agrarna banka - Prilog istoriji poljoprivrednog