Veterinarski Zavod Subotica, which is celebrating its centenary of successful operations, will continue to work hard in the years ahead, developing all three product segments to improve the health of animals, investing in equipment and personnel
In the struggle against diseases that impact on the lives of animals and humans at the global level, we must be stronger in the battle, utilising national resources and developing our own capacities, and we will be helped in that by our synergy with the Labiana Group, announces Veterinarski Zavod Subotica CEO Dragoljub Milinković.
You have ahead of you a major, significant anniversary – a hundred years of the existence and successful work of Veterinarski Zavod Subotica. Where does this veterinary institute stand today on the business map of Serbia and the region?
Completing a hundred years of operations is a great honour for our company and team, and simultaneously represents a great obligation, while imposing on us an additional responsibility to continue working hard and developing. It is very significant that during this jubilee year we’ve become part of the Labiana family, which is one of Europe’s leading companies in the industry dealing with animal health. Operational continuity based on the fundamental principles and values that we share with the Labiana Group represents the foundation of our further development, and we want to contribute to animal health in accordance with the “One Health” concept, thereby showing our concern for human health at the same time.
When it comes to Veterinarski Zavod Subotica, we must mention that it is an indispensable factor in the livestock sector of our country, but also the entire Balkan region. We want to maintain and develop this position even further, but also to create new values and share them with our partners and clients.
Your synergy with the Labiana Group, a leading Spanish pharmaceutical company, has presented you with new business challenges. Now that your Institute is a member of a large group, how do you see its further growth and business development at both the national and international level?
The greatest strength of our company is its people, their knowledge, energy and integrity, and respect for partners and the market is thus the most important element to us. That’s precisely why we work constantly to advance our employees and thereby create the foundations for collective progress. We create a motivating environment that will ensure young people want to join our team, which will inevitably enable their further professional development and progress, together with the company. Our strategy focuses on attracting and retaining talent, through their personal and professional development. We set high standards and in return strive for our employees to identify with our company’s values and principles.
In this we’re provided with very significant support from Labiana, thanks on the whole to its 60 years of experience and work in the European Union and other parts of the world. Working side by side with professionals from the Spanish company will ensure that we improve our own organisational efficiency, share experiences, strengthen quality control and system development, and participate jointly in the service production market, as well as in future research and the actual development of products.
With the aim of securing opportunities for quality growth, in the first half of 2021 we will launch investments in a completely new microbiological and control laboratory, which will correspond fully with the European Union’s most demanding standards.
In which directions do you envisage the growth Veterinarski Zavod Subotica? How are your innovation potentials now that you are operating from within the Labiana Group?
Synergy with Labiana not only opens up the possibility of us entering new markets, but also the possibility of realising all other potential areas of our company, and there are many of them. Our huge potential in the development of new vaccines and products that will be of great importance for animal health is based on the very long tradition, of both ourselves and Labiana, in the production of vaccines and medicines for use in animals.
In the first half of 2021 we will launch investments in a completely new microbiological and control laboratory
Synergy with Labiana also provides us with several important platforms for further development, such as preserving and growing the domestic market and Veterinarski Zavod Subotica’s significance in combating animal diseases in Serbia and the Balkans, then conquering new markets through the wide range of our common product portfolio and upgrading the business through the development of new products, primarily in the segment intended for preventative animal health, i.e. vaccines.
You have the tradition, knowhow, experience and determination to become a dominant player in the field of organic production at the international level. What will you focus on specifically, considering that vaccines are part of the visionary focus of the Labiana Group?
The vision of our company is to increase our importance and our influence in biological production and the application of vaccines in animals, through the synthesising of the domestic and international knowledge that Labiana possesses. The investments that we’re preparing are therefore directed towards realising our plans. It is inevitable that vaccines are our core product, and that they’ve become the greatest challenge in our plans for growth and development.
They are among the most important health measures and continue to bring the greatest benefits, both for humans and for animals. It is important to emphasise that we are striving together with Labiana to achieve a common goal, which is to become the world standard as a global company in the animal health sector.
The great global pandemic that we’re still dealing with occurred as the result of a virus passing from animals to humans…
The trend in the animal health industry is preventative action in protecting their health, and in that sense our company endeavours to contribute to that process. We see our contribution in cooperating actively with state institutions in Serbia, as well as in joint work on controlling the emergence of diseases and responding preventatively in the implementation of animal health protection.
The pandemic that hit the whole world has once again reminded us that the concept of the “One Health” approach to animal and human health is of vital importance. In the struggle against diseases that impact on the lives of animals and humans at the global level, we must be stronger in the battle, utilising national resources and developing our own capacities.
It is therefore essential to learn every day, in order for us to emerge from these situations with experience that will prove useful to us in our further work. That’s also why we look forward to new challenges.