Poultry farm manager Gudačiauskas: I’m afraid a lot of money was spent on support, but not for those companies

According to Mr. Gudačiauskas, the poultry sector is special not only in the economic sense but also in the social sense, because live products are grown, which is why this crisis is a particularly great challenge.

Rescuing Poles from the crisis: an example to follow, but one that complicates the Lithuanian poultry trade

“We are raising a living creature that cannot be left even for five days, because broilers grow in 40 days and the error of several days already leads to a completely different processing of poultry meat, with even greater losses. We kill about 5 million a month. Broilers, if we had downtime, who would benefit from it?

As he points out, the pandemic disrupted tourist flows and created huge poultry surpluses on European and global markets, prompting countries to rush to rescue their producers by distributing huge subsidies.

“The Polish vision is that Polish poultry should be on all European tables. Poland devalued the zloty by about 10 percent, which immediately strengthened exporters and distributed 1 billion in support of its sector.

Therefore, the subsidized and below-cost poultry meat reached the Lithuanian retail chains. Naturally, it is worth it for a merchant to buy cheaper. So prices fell and today we are forced to produce and sell at a loss so as not to have to accumulate in a warehouse or use the products, “said D. Gudačiauskas.

Hope is placed on vaccination and government collaboration with companies

According to Mr. Gudačiauskas, more attention should be paid to thinking about what the Lithuanian economy will be like after the pandemic and who needs the most support: the businessman, in the businessman’s opinion, pays very little attention to it.

“Heads of state use a very strange aid formula: In business, we are used to calculating according to the present value principle, when calculating which commercial offer is better than the other.” The state does not use the principle of integrity and common benefit when choosing which business to support, and it is scary, because after a while we will see that a lot of money was spent, but the best businesses and the Lithuanian economy were not left. weakened ”, feared the interlocutor.

According to him, the strict trade restrictions adopted three months ago should be reconsidered today, otherwise the Lithuanian markets could remain uncompetitive.

“Disproportionate constraints will lead to a decrease in Lithuania’s competitiveness in both the domestic and export markets. Instead of fighting the fires, the government should discuss with business representatives what the Lithuanian economy wants to see after the pandemic: which companies will die and which should be the cornerstones and the output will be stronger after the pandemic. convinced D. Gudačiauskas. .

According to him, although the situation is dramatic, it is not desperate, because the world is urgently vaccinating and the warm season is approaching.

“Vaccination rates are increasing and the season is approaching: longer days in which consumption will increase on its own. Therefore, with a little state support, we could save the entire sector, which does not need any support since 30 years ago ”, affirmed the businessman.

According to him, the main task today is not to be afraid to allow the economy to recover.

“The human brain is always looking for meaning; if it can’t find it, it looks for it until it finds it. If you want to find out why you can’t buy, find out. We need to learn to be entrepreneurs, otherwise, after this crisis, we will leave the market and we will be uncompetitive both in Europe and in the world ”, said Mr. Gudačiauskas, Managing Director of Vilniaus Paukštynas and Kaišiadorių Paukštynas.