The reduction of subsidies for large agricultural companies will not be final, but it is expected that at the meeting with them at the end of the week, the Ministry of Agriculture will decide to reduce subsidies by about 20 percent, rather than the previously announced 40 percent, as reported by the business weekly Lider.
Since Minister Čobanković calmed farmers with an additional 26.6 percent subsidy, but only for farmers who own up to 300 hectares of land, larger agricultural entities have quietly but very actively been pressuring to ensure they are not disadvantaged. The preparation of a meeting with them and a new agreement was also announced by the president of HPK, Darko Grivičić. – I have been frequently contacted these days by representatives from large companies. I believe that a new agreement will be reached at the end of this week in a new meeting with Minister Čobanković – says Grivičić. According to information, the agreement to be reached should be supplemented with an additional 20 percent subsidy, meaning that large companies will receive 80 percent of the planned subsidies instead of 60 percent, while small farmers will likely receive somewhat more.
