Private forest owners often cooperate in various organizational forms. One such form is a machinery ring (MR). These are neighbourhood assistance associations that allow their members to provide a service using agricultural and forestry machinery, while being exempt from VAT under certain conditions. In the first part of the research, the activity of MR Bled from its establishment in 2004 to 2022 and MR Servis d.o.o. (which MR Bled owns) was analysed. In the second part of the research, a survey was conducted among the members of MR (n = 60) to find out what are the main problems they face, how satisfied they are with the activity of MR, what they think about the professionalization of MR and whether they provide services within the framework of MR Servis d.o.o. The results show that the members of MR are mostly older than 50 years, that their average forest property size is 15.1 ha, and that they are well equipped with forestry machinery. Members are satisfied with both the operation and management of MR. The members make little use of the opportunities offered by MR (e.g. the provision of services), they are in favour of the professionalization of MR, but many of them are not aware of the purpose and activities of MR Servis d.o.o. The potential of cooperation of MR is not yet fully exploited.
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