Home / Information / Signed 172 contracts worth 124 million kuna with winemakers, farmers, and florists

Signed 172 contracts worth 124 million kuna with winemakers, farmers, and florists

Farmers and representatives of the Agency for Payments in Agriculture signed 172 contracts on Monday for financing projects under measure 4.1.1. “Restructuring, modernization, and increasing the competitiveness of agricultural holdings” for the plant production sector, specifically viticulture, farming, sugar beet, and flowers, worth 124 million kuna.

With this money, as highlighted, farmers will finance the purchase of agricultural machinery, equipment, and storage for field crops, the establishment of new vineyards, the production of industrial medicinal and aromatic herbs, as well as flowers and ornamental plants.

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The contracts were signed by farmers from all over Croatia and the director of the Agency for Payments in Agriculture, Fisheries, and Rural Development, Matilda Copić, who emphasized that the signed 172 contracts represent total investments of 255 million kuna, of which 124 million kuna is financed from the Rural Development Program.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Tomislav Tolušić stated that this is the first call related to the plant production sector, with a total value of 360 million kuna, of which 70 million kuna is for sugar beet, 70 million for vineyards, 20 for flowers, and 200 million kuna for pure farming.

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“Today, 172 contracts worth 124 million kuna were signed. We hope to sign another 240 million kuna in September. We have financed all projects that applied from the sugar beet production sector and the floriculture sector, as well as all from the viticulture sector. This means that everyone who applied and met the formal requirements received funding and their projects were approved,” said Tolušić, noting that all farmers who signed contracts today are solvent, as they would not have been able to apply for the call otherwise.

Tolušić, reflecting on the success of EU funds, asserted that the Rural Development Program is definitely the most successful of all four operational programs. “So far, we have announced 87 percent of the total allocation available to us, we have contracted 55 percent of projects or allocations, and we have already paid out 26 percent. By the end of 2020, and probably even earlier, Croatia will spend all the money available to it from the Rural Development Program,” he said.

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The call for measure 4.1.1. “Restructuring, modernization, and increasing the competitiveness of agricultural holdings” was announced in February and ended at the end of April.

“For the other signatories from the farming sector, their contracts are in preparation and they will sign them very soon. The Agency for Payments is also processing other calls that we have closed. Currently, on the other hand, we have 21 open calls with a total value of 3.1 billion kuna,” emphasized the director of the Agency for Payments.

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Looking at the counties, the most signed contracts are from Vukovar-Srijem County, with 39, followed by Osijek-Baranja with 34, Istria with 29, Virovitica-Podravina with 11, and Požega-Slavonia with 10.