The Croatian Chamber of Agriculture disagrees with the drastic reduction of the budget for agriculture.
This was stated today at a press conference at the HPK headquarters, where its president Mato Brlošić hinted that Croatian farmers, if the budget is reduced by several hundred million kuna, will find it difficult to survive the next year. As for how much the budget will be reduced, Brlošić currently has no information, and Minister of Agriculture Tihomir Jakovina did not want to comment on this at the press conference following the meeting with the Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirko Šarović. It is possible that more will be known on Wednesday when the Agriculture Committee of the Croatian Parliament meets.
The HPK also criticized this year’s budget rebalancing, which has increased expenditures by 100 million kuna, causing agriculture to suffer as well.
– There have been droughts and frosts, we expected the rebalancing to compensate for the damage, not the other way around – said Brlošić.
A member of the HPK Management Board and president of the Croatian Peasant Union, Mijo Latin, reminded of a recent statement by Minister Tihomir Jakovina that 30 percent of Croatian farmers will go bankrupt, concluding that the budget for 2013 is heading in that direction. He warned that the Law on Subsidies, which was adopted in an expedited procedure, has already deprived farmers of funds, specifically 30 million kuna for dairy cows and seven million kuna for sheep. He also reminded that Minister Tihomir Jakovina promised 167 million kuna for milk producers, questioning where this will be secured when funds are being reduced by this year’s rebalancing and the budget for 2013.
– Furthermore, this law will soon have to undergo amendments, as the European Commission has warned that the provisions regarding the national envelope and the regulation of new producers are contrary to current EU regulations – said Latin, without specifying what is wrong in this regard.
The EC also warned the Croatian government that it cannot impose export duties on corn. The HPK appeals to the Ministry of Agriculture to meet once again before sending the Agricultural Land Law into procedure, as they are dissatisfied with the position of small farmers if this law is adopted. They call on the minister to resolve the issue of seven thousand farmers who did not receive subsidies for 2011 because they did not pay taxes. Their proposal is to offset mutual debts of the state and farmers, but according to the interpretation of the Ministry of Agriculture, this is not possible
