A brawl will unfold at 12:00 noon today in the Parliament plenary session, as Kyriakos Mitsotakis arrives to answer the question Nikos Androulakis tabled at the beginning of the year on farmers’ issues. Mitsotakis’ response, of course, coincides with the start of the farmers’ mobilizations already marked by the first clashes in Karditsa, so the Prime Minister is expected to give point-by-point answers to the issues raised by Androulakis. At the same time, he will also give “visibility” to the agricultural world for the next steps of the agricultural policy.

According to information from the prime minister’s office, Mitsotakis is expected to deconstruct Androulakis’ claims that he attributes to the government the absence of measures in favor of producers and long-term planning. Of course, he will admit that there are problems, many of them structural, and point out that in many cases the way agricultural production is run with subsidies and one-off payments constitutes an anachronistic model. Besides, one parameter to be added to the equation is the adverse developments due to the climate crisis. At the same time, there are also delays in compensation for natural disasters, as Members of the Southwest, such as Maximos Charakopoulos, have highlighted in their questions.

Government officials say that in his intervention – which may of course evolve into a full-blown debate – Kyriakos Mitsotakis will promote the favorable provisions launched by the government for the primary sector, summarizing the government’s interventions for the refund scheme of the VAT for agricultural oil, for the fixed prices in the electricity tariffs of producers, the tax reductions, the VAT reductions for agricultural machinery and equipment, the generous tax rebates for farmers participating in cooperative schemes, etc.and so on.

Red loans

It also remains to be seen whether Mitsotakis will announce the final regulation for “red” loans of farmers, an intervention that is expected with great interest and which has long been announced by Rural Development Minister Kostas Tsiaras. According to protothema.gr, the scheme is already ready, has been agreed with all stakeholders including banks and the Bank of Greece and is expected to be included in a more comprehensive bill by the Ministry of Rural Development that is only a matter of time before it goes out for public consultation.

The draft law covers claims amounting to €3.8 billion and benefits more than 750 agricultural cooperatives and some 21,000 farmers. Specifically, it concerns frozen assets worth more than €1.5 billion.The regulation will allow for the possibility of extending the repayment period, reducing interest rates, forgiving interest, reducing or even partially or completely writing off the loan, and the possibility of refinancing.

Another important pending issue concerns the appointment of a new management of OPEKEPE, which is also under European supervision. The outgoing administration had left at the end of the year and now the name of veteran judge Nikos Salata is being strongly mentioned, while the emeritus professor of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki George Zalidis and Yannis Kaimakamis are expected to be appointed as vice-presidents.