This is the first such donation from the Serbian government and a sign of improving relations between the two countries and their interest in settling the refugee problems as soon as possible, SNV president Milorad Pupovac said at a press conference in Zagreb on Thursday.
The machinery, including 30 tractors and 42 tractor attachments, will be given for one-year use to returnee cooperatives founded on the SNV's initiative. If the cooperatives turn out to be good managers, after the one-year period they will become owners of the tractors.
Pupovac thanked the Serbian government for the donation and the Croatian government for exempting the machinery from Value Added Tax and other dues.
The Serbian government's deputy commissioner for refugees, Nikola Vukojevic, said that there were about 230,000 refugees in Serbia, of whom about 65 per cent would like to stay there while 35 per cent would like to return to Croatia.
Vukojevic said that about 50,000 refugees had returned to their prewar homes in Croatia, while according to the Croatian government, this number is about 120,000. The difference in the numbers is the result of the fact that a large number of refugees come to Croatia to collect their pension allowances and then go back to Serbia.