A high-stakes tête-à-tête is underway in the plenary session of Parliament, as Kyriakos Mitsotakis responds to a question submitted at the beginning of the year by Nikos Androulakis regarding farmers’ issues.

Mitsotakis’ Speech

I begin with the hope that we have more constructive debates aimed at synthesis.

The issues facing the agricultural sector did not emerge in the past five years: old agricultural debts, non-performing agricultural loans. I cannot help but note that the practices of unchecked borrowing with no repayment in sight likely began during your tenure.

It’s somewhat hypocritical for the opposition to claim that the government has no policies for the primary sector, or that our goal is to undermine farmers, leaving rural areas in a state of neglect.

This is a false narrative. The government has raised barriers to support the primary sector and aims to make it competitive.

This government taxes farmers at 9%, with a 50% reduction for all producer associations. We lowered VAT on fertilizers and agricultural machinery. It was this government that listened to farmers’ demands when, at this time last year, they protested – a customary right of theirs. I invited them, listened to their demands, and addressed them, including making the special consumption tax on diesel permanent. This is implemented as of 2025.

If I understand correctly, you’re suggesting farmers receive untaxed fuel directly at the pump. That is a recipe for skyrocketing fuel smuggling.

We subsidized cheap electricity for farmers with a 10-year plan. If you have a magical way to lower electricity to 3 or 5 cents, or make it free, then perhaps you should move to SYRIZA’s benches.

Let’s talk about whether ELGA (the agricultural insurance organization) provided faster compensation under any previous government compared to this one.

Are you unaware that the budget includes €600 million for addressing natural disasters? This is funded through the resilience levy because we need additional resources to tackle the climate crisis.

Mr. Androulakis, either you are uninformed, or you are deliberately distorting the facts. What we can agree on is that we cannot address the problems of the agricultural sector with outdated methods or solely through subsidies. Our goal is to increase the added value of our agricultural products. We want farming and livestock breeding to provide a good life for those in rural areas.

From exceptional raw materials to a competitive food industry and access to major international markets – what we used to call “the farming community” must become a modern, productive pillar. It must connect with tourism and increase exports.

Today, there is a hidden dynamism in the primary sector. The picture is not as bleak as you wish to portray, Mr. Androulakis.

We must convince farmers of the need for a comprehensive shift, and we have taken initiatives in that direction. One example is transitioning cultivation to greenhouses, as their productivity and water needs are incomparable to traditional, open-field farming.

Nikos Androulakis: “The country’s primary sector can and deserves better”

From the outset of his speech in Parliament, during which he presented his question to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis regarding the issues facing the agricultural sector, Nikos Androulakis adopted a critical tone. He stated:

“Mr. Prime Minister, in the sixth year of your governance, you have completely failed both in managing the sector and in drafting a long-term National Plan for the primary sector. Our villages have become ghost villages as permanent residents age and our youth migrate in search of opportunities and a future.”

The leader of PASOK-Movement for Change called on Mr. Mitsotakis to provide explanations and answers to rural communities for the decline they are experiencing. “You have failed, and the farmers’ growing problems are proof of that,” he emphasized.

Mr. Androulakis pointed out that the cost of production is skyrocketing, compensation payments and subsidies are delayed, and there is chaos in the operation of ELGA and OPEKEPE.

He also mentioned that farmers are at an impasse due to mounting debts, lack of financing from the banking system, and threats from funds to seize agricultural land.

Moreover, he criticized the phenomenon of product adulteration, the widening price gap from the farm to the supermarket shelf, the lack of infrastructure and agricultural labor, and, above all, the absence of a visionary modernization plan for the primary sector. This, he argued, is necessary to adapt the sector to the realities of the 21st century and demonstrates the extent of the neglect of the farming community.