Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić reported on Tuesday that not all debts to Agrokor’s small suppliers have been settled, but that “a good part has been settled.”
He reminded of the Government’s stance in addressing the issue of Agrokor’s debts, stating that small suppliers and small family farms are first in line for settlement. “We will adhere to this until all debts to small suppliers, as well as to everyone else, are settled,” announced Minister Tolušić while guesting on HRT’s central news program.
When asked when the remaining funds will be paid out, Tolušić said that the cash flow of the entire group is being filled successively on a daily basis. Debts are being paid off slowly, so I believe it will be relatively quick.
When exactly that will be is a bit of a difficult question, said the Minister of Agriculture.
Normal behavior of the state
In response to a question about the payment of the second part of direct subsidies to farmers, amounting to around one billion kuna, and whether this is enough for the recovery of rural areas, Minister Tolušić stated that this is farmers’ money and asserted that the state has not always behaved properly towards farmers.
>>>Tolušić: Our budget has increased by over a billion kuna, there will be money for everyone
Subsidies have always been delayed. Our desire is for the first part of the subsidies to be in February each year, the second part in April, and the remaining part, or advance for the next year, by the end of November of the current year. The Government will adhere to this, Tolušić stated, adding that this eases the burden on our farmers as they do not have to finance sowing and all other necessary things. This is how the state behaves normally, as it should have behaved towards Croatian farmers over the last 20 years, emphasized the Minister.
He confirmed that companies from the Agrokor group have also received support. The only ones who will not receive support until the end of April are those engaged in organic production, given that there have been many irregularities discovered in recent months. Controls are underway in the field, and until they are completed, these subsidies will be paused for about ten days in May, Tolušić stated.
Money in the hands of the “big ones”
Speaking about the new system for the rural development program and the allocation of funds to small producers, as practice has shown that it is mostly taken by the “big ones,” Tolušić said that according to regulations, money should be allocated to both “big ones” and “small ones,” but not all. Unfortunately, it has been shown that in previous tenders, announced during the SDP government, the vast majority of the money went into the hands of the big ones, rather than those living in rural areas. New tenders will start next week, with more than 600 million kuna allocated for the construction of new farms, permanent crops, new greenhouses, purchasing equipment, etc., announced the Minister.
