Minister: Farmers say EU Russian embargo aid is 'too low'

photo - Glow Images/East News

“Because of the low rates proposed by the European Commission, a majority of farmers are withdrawing from the procedure,” Sawicki said at the Congress of European Farmers in Brussels.

“The farmers are convinced that the rates should at least cover the costs of production, and they are well below that,” the minister said.

When farmers found out they would just get a few euro cents per kilogram of withdrawn produce, they decided not to make use of the option, he explained.

The European Commission announced its decision on compensation for farmers hit by the Russian embargo on food from the EU on 30 August, putting the total value of the aid at 125 million euro.

On 1 October, however, the EC pledged an additional 165 million euro in aid for farmers affected by Russian sanctions, after criticism from food producers over its first aid plan.

Farmers from other affected EU member states complained that Polish farmers are already getting the bulk of financial compensation from Brussels.

"The problem is that Poland is a big apple producer and they exported a lot to Russia, leaving little [aid] left for Italian [and other affected] farmers," Italian apple farmer Stefano Francia told the Thomson Reuters Foundation last week.

Poland is now carrying out inspections of the farms that asked for EU aid and has already accepted 80 percent of the applications. (kw/pg)

Source: IAR