MP of DA Platform group ACUM Bloc, Alexandru Slusari, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, says that next year a very complicated situation is expected as regards the financing of the agricultural sector. At a press briefing, the MP warned that the Agricultural Subsidy Fund for 2020 remains at the level of 2017, of 950 million lei, but the arrears for 2019 will come to over 600 million.
According to Alexandru Slusari, considering that some sources are already planned to be directed to other areas, farmers will have up to 200 million lei subsidies for agricultural projects. "If important measures are not taken, farmers will be in a very difficult situation in terms of access to financing from the state budget," stressed the deputy.
Further, Alexandru Slusari mentioned that each year it was proposed to finance new measures, increase the percentage quotas in certain areas, but the amount of the Fund remained unchanged. Without increasing the Fund by at least 500 million lei, authorities cannot count on the modernization of the agricultural area, as many important processes of the sector will be jeopardized in 2020.
During the hearings at the Parliamentary Commission on Agriculture and Food Industry, Vadim Curmei, the director of the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture (AIPA), has stressed that the probability of subsidy arrears increasing in 2020 is high, because new subsidy measures are planned for next year, which involve new expenses.
On 31 October, AIPA ended the campaign for submitting applications for post-investment grants in 2019. More than 7,400 files were received, the requested amount representing 1.1 billion lei. Most requests are from the livestock sector, followed by the purchase of agricultural machinery and equipment.
