The Institute of Agriculture – Skopje within the "Ss. Cyril and Methodius" University in Skopje, on October 3, 2025, at Hotel Continental, in cooperation with the Association "Wines of Macedonia", traditionally held the fourth scientific conference entitled "Vranec - Science, Innovation and Global Perspectives", with the aim of sharing the latest scientific knowledge related to the Vranec wine variety, which has been cultivated for many years in Macedonia and the region, as the main representative of red wine varieties and the leader variety that characterizes the type of Macedonian red wines. Speakers at the conference were prominent and proven scientific experts from the country and the region (Montenegro and Serbia), in the field of viticulture and winemaking, who presented results from previous scientific research related to the Vranec variety.
The Conference was attended and participated by a large number of representatives from other scientific and educational institutions, from government institutions and from the viticulture and winemaking sector. The event was opened with a welcoming speech by Prof. Viktor Gjamovski, Director of the Institute of Agriculture – Skopje, followed by the welcoming speeches of Prof. Dr. Biljana Angelova, Rector of the “Ss. Cyril and Methodius” University in Skopje and Elena Mladenovska Jelenkovic, Executive Director of the Association “Wines of Macedonia”. The scientific part of the Conference, with the first topic titled: “Vranec in Macedonia – Research and Perspectives”, was opened by Prof. Dr. Klime Beleski from the Institute of Agriculture – Skopje. Prof. Dr. Vesna Marash from the Faculty of Biotechnology, University of Montenegro from Montenegro spoke on the topic “Vranec from Montenegro – Scientific, Historical and Regional Path of the Autochthonous Variety towards the Wine Identity of the Balkans”. The lecture entitled “Yield and Quality of the Vranec Variety – Challenges and Practical Directions”, was presented by Prof. Dr. Duško Nedelkovski from the Institute of Agriculture - Skopje, and on "Precise viticultural practices for obtaining high-quality grapes from the Vranec variety", spoke MA Riste Gjorgiev from the Tikveš Winery.
In this second part of the Conference, Prof. Dr. Violeta Dimovska from the Faculty of Agriculture, University "Goce Delčev" - Štip, explained about "Impact of production technology on the chemical composition of Madžun (grape molasses) from the Vranec variety". In the third part of the Conference dedicated to the importance of the Protection of Geographical Indications, the following spoke: Dr. Darko Jakšić from the Institute of Agroeconomics, Belgrade, Serbia on the topic "Application of modeling approaches for the protection of the geographical indication of wine and grape products"; Dr. Filip Vučen from the Institute for Intellectual Property-Skopje, on the topic: "Geographical names of Macedonian wine as a promoter of the European market" and M.A. Milica Pletvarska Atanasov from the Association "POVARDARSKI - VRV", Macedonia on the topic: "Vranec and geographical indications - a guarantee of quality, authenticity and economic value".
The conference ended with a presentation and tasting of wines from the Vranec variety produced by Macedonian wineries and wineries from the region.
