A five-hour meeting between representatives of farmers and the ministers concerned in Athens. The ministry’s side argues that the government gave everything it could based on the fiscal limits of the Greek economy, but for their part, the farmers are not satisfied with the results of the meeting.

The “pouch” of benefits

The first and most important thing that the government is giving to farmers is a tax rebate on agricultural oil. Last year it gave 100 million. This year for the agricultural oil tax, there is a redefinition by crop concerning the amount of oil each crop needs to produce. A committee will be set up to re-determine the amount given per crop, which will include farmers. In fact, “for fairer distribution, as much money as required will be given,” government lips were heard from government lips at the meeting. This means that from next year onwards there may be a refund amount that will reach or even exceed 150 million euros.

The group of ministers pledged to try to ensure that from next year onwards the price of electricity will be maintained at 9.3 cents per kilowatt hour for the whole year. The Rural Development Minister pledged to compensate crops damaged by 30% or more due to the heatwave and climate change. A file will be prepared for this purpose to claim the amount from the EU.

The “grey” areas of the negotiations

During the meeting, the issue of changing the ELGA regulation to include compensation for crops hit by climate change was also raised. Here the dark point for farmers is that the contributions they pay as insurance for their crops will increase significantly.

Finally, farmers claim that they have not received answers about the replacement of their lost income, as well as the lower guaranteed prices for their products.

The ministry, for its part, claimed that for this issue, it is asking the EU to activate the mutual assistance fund that would provide solutions.