Insignificant – is how the Romanian agriculture minister
\ndescribed the support received by Romania from the European Commission to
\ncompensate for the losses suffered by local farmers following the massive
\ninflux of cheap cereals from Ukraine. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The Commission decided to unblock 56 million euros
\nfrom its crisis reserves to offset economic losses and limit unbalances on the
\nmarkets in Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Poland is to receive 30 million euros,
\nBulgaria over 16 million, and Romania 10 million euros, which is very little
\ncompared with the amount of losses incurred. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
President Klaus Iohannis, who was in Brussels for a
\nrecent meeting of the European Council, called on the Commission to reassess
\nthe aid. The Commission must take into account that Romania made sacrifices to
\nfacilitate the export of Ukrainian cereals, said Iohannis, adding that he found
\nit very strange for the European Commission to use formulas in such cases
\ninstead of negotiations. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Only a few days later, agriculture minister Petre Daea
\nthis week announced that the initial aid of 10 million euros would be
\nsupplemented by another support mechanism. According to Radio Romania’s
\ncorrespondent in Brussels, who is citing official sources, 75 million euros
\nwill be distributed among Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, as well as Hungary and
\nSlovakia. The talks over the share each country is going to get will begin
\nsoon, so the five states must provide as much data and arguments as possible in
\norder to attract more funding. At first sight, Romania may get another 15-20
\nmillion euros, putting the total sum at between 25 and 30 million. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in order to maintain pressure on local and
\nEuropean decision-makers, farmers are taking to the street. The movement of
\ngoods through several Romanian-Bulgarian border checkpoints has been very busy
\nthese days, with truck drivers waiting for hours for routine formalities. The
\nreason for this were the protests staged by Bulgarian farmers, unhappy that
\ncheap, duty-free agricultural products from Ukraine have flooded the Bulgarian
\nmarkets. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
One of the world’s biggest grain exporters, Ukraine
\nsaw its Black Sea ports blocked following the Russian invasion and had to find
\nalternative transport routes. Except that large quantities of cereals, cheaper
\nthan those produced in the European Union, made their way to central European
\nmarkets, affecting prices and the sales of local farmers. The European
\nCommission, determined to help Ukraine all the way through, must now find
\nsolutions for its own farmers. A joint protest of farmers from all the
\ncountries affected is scheduled for 7th April. (CM)<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Romania to get extra EU funding for farmers affected by the imports of cheap cereals from Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":92846,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-95279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n