Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić announced on Thursday after the Government session a change in the regulations regarding the payment of subsidies for land, which he assessed will clarify the scandal of subsidy payments to users of agricultural land without the knowledge of the owners.
– Amendments to the regulations will be made. It will no longer be possible to obtain private land, private agricultural land without the permission of the landowner. The draft regulation will be released tomorrow after which it must go through the e-consultation process and will be adopted as soon as possible, Tolušić stated.
– All those who have been improperly or illegally registered in Arkod will be removed from that system and will receive a ban on obtaining subsidies for some time – a year, two, three, depending on the amounts involved, Tolušić said.
He emphasized that no one has harmed the state budget so far and that no money has been improperly distributed, as subsidies have not yet been paid. In response to a journalist’s question about who is responsible for this situation, he replied that unfortunately there are those who seek loopholes in the system. Tolušić believes that there are no grounds for lawsuits against the state, but there are grounds for lawsuits against those who have unlawfully taken possession and used rights.
– Then private individuals will be able to pursue them ex officio, meaning criminal prosecution, he added.
Regarding how many farmers have illegally used subsidies, Tolušić said that it will be known after the complete control of all 32,000 hectares that have been registered based on witness statements.
As soon as we know if there are and how many other malversations or irregularities, we will inform the public, he said.
