The Association “Force of Farmers” said that today they will have discussions with the authorities on the situation in agriculture, which they consider catastrophic, particularly for small and medium-sized farmers. If they are ignored today or remain with sterile and general promises, the famers will take active action on Thursday, IPN reports.
In a press release, the Association said that on Tuesday afternoon it asked for meetings with the Parliament Speaker and the President. They also wait for the promised meeting with the Prime Minister, which is to be held after the minister of agriculture returns from Brussels.
As to the financing announced by the authorities for the agricultural sector, the Associations said the figures are erroneous. “They say the state allocated an extra 533 million lei and then an extra 900 million lei to support the farmers. These are absolutely erroneous figures disseminated with the aim of misleading public opinion. In reality, no additional funds were allocated for subsidies. In January-May 2023, the famers were refunded less than 100 million lei from the VAT debit for covering particular taxes. This money is the amount owed by the state to agricultural producers, which was accumulated during three years. After the amendment of the law on VAT refund, on which we had insisted for six months, the farmers during the next three months will possibly receive another 150 million lei of the own funds in VAT refund,” said the Association “Force of Farmers”.
It noted that half of the 100 million lei will go on direct payments per animal and kg of milk, which does not bear any relation to the problem of compensation. The other half will be partially used to recover the excise duty on diesel fuel. This sum hasn’t been yet approved. 900 million lei is nothing but the state’s debt for subsidies under applications filed to the Agency for Intervention and Payments in Agriculture last summer and is not additionally allocated funds.
In an online post, PAS lawmaker Radu Marian said that the authorities have done a number of things for farmers lately. For example, in 2022, the National Fund for the Development of Agriculture and the Rural Environment got a budget of 1.75 billion lei, a 60% increase on the previous year. For 2023, the same amount was allocated, and in the June 2023 budget adjustment, an additional 100 million lei will be allocated for subsidies. For the first time, micro-, small- and medium-sized agricultural producers benefited from excise duty compensation on diesel fuel used in 2022, in the amount of up to 100% or 2980 lei/ton. Meanwhile, the price of diesel fell by more than 12 lei/liter compared to the peak recorded last year. The state refunds the VAT to agricultural producers who suffered losses of more than 50%, and the scheme is continuously simplified. Simplifying the employment of day laborers is another action approved by the authorities. The term for which day laborers can perform activities for the same beneficiary has been extended from 90 to 120 days, and day laborers have been exempted from the mandatory health and social insurance schemes. The amounts of Moldovan plums, table grapes, apples, tomatoes, garlic, cherries and grape juice that will be exported duty-free to the European Union have been doubled, and tractors and power tillers used in agriculture and forestry have been exempted from excise duties regardless of age.
