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Five Lithuanian farms operating in the poultry sector have already announced the suspension of the activity. This situation is also worrying for regions that are already considering the possible economic and social consequences, with thousands of local people losing their jobs.
Vytautas Tėvelis, director of the Lithuanian Poultry Association, said that the poultry sector competes with Polish poultry and was affected not only by a pandemic but also by 40 percent last year. I think expensive.
“If it is possible to suspend operations in other sectors for some period, this is not possible in the poultry sector. Birds need to be fed and cared for. We can’t shut down or stop activities that fast.
The fall in export prices brings 1 million. loss, the fall in prices in the domestic market brings exactly the same loss, about 1 million. each month. Companies can no longer survive, 5 companies have already ceased their activities, 8 companies have reduced their turnover by 30% ”, commented the head of the association.
According to him, he contacted the authorities, but no one offered help.
“Nobody seems to want to take responsibility for this sector and agriculture in general, because it is not included in any aid measure. The government directs it to the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), which in turn directs it to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, which allocates the funds. The latter reiterates that agriculture is not its responsibility, but when we go back to the Ministry of Agriculture, we get the answer that the Government must first allocate budgetary funds to this sector. We are like a vicious circle, in it is not clear who is responsible for this sector ”, V. Tėvelis, the head of the LPA, does not hide his disappointment.
Companies calculate losses and laid off workers
According to him, the poultry sector needs 15 million. help in euros.
Darius Gudačiauskas, manager of the Vilnius and Kaišiadorys poultry farms, says the government should also answer the question of whether it wants to preserve a sector that creates high economic value for the regions in which they operate. According to him, companies are the largest employers in the Vilnius and Kaišiadorys districts.
“During 2020 only the Vilnius and Kaišiadorys poultry farms paid taxes to the state budget, the total amount of which amounts to LTL 13.6 million. The companies employ 2,300 people and the salary (in hand) was 19.7 million euros euros. Volumes of goods and services purchased by Vilniaus Paukštynas from external suppliers amounted to more than 92 million. Kaišiadorys poultry farm – more than 30 million. “said the poultry manager.
Jonas Jagminas, director of the agricultural cooperative Agroaves Group, noted that the purchase of poultry meat from the cooperative’s farms stopped due to falling prices.
“The cooperative manages 6 breeding complexes consisting of 50 chicken coops and the Ariogala feed factory is inactive. 100 employees in downtime, 60 laid off. The situation is tragic. It is necessary to find opportunities to help a sector that did not ask for support before the pandemic and only paid taxes. The support provided returns to the state budget through taxes and job creation, ”said the head of the cooperative.
Pig farmers are not supported either
Algis Baravykas, director of the Lithuanian Pig Farmers Association, noted that the pig farming sector in Lithuania is probably the least supported.
“We lack a different governmental approach, other countries are rescuing their pig farming sectors, which employ people and supply them with meat.
For example, Latvians 14.5 million. 40 million euros for the pig sector, the Austrians for 40 million euros. Latvian aid to the poultry sector, amounting to € 11 million, is already under discussion. euros. At that time in Lithuania we are now pushing between ministries and nobody listens to us.
However, we, as the poultry sector, have already experienced 15 million. loss, but we are not getting help. We did not hear a clearer word from either the Minister of Agriculture or the Prime Minister.
After all, we are talking about ecology and circular economy, but nobody cares about the consumption of feed and other resources in our country. In addition, our sector employs about 7.5 thousand people. population of the country, “said the head of the association.
According to him, poultry and pig farmers in agriculture produce about 15 percent. of total agricultural production, and its annual value reaches 365 million. euros.
“The pandemic created a feeling of insecurity, so Asian countries began to buy grains, which would guarantee the well-being of their people. This led to an increase in the prices of wheat, corn and soybeans. Feed prices have increased between 30% and 40%.
The feed represents 70%. costs in pig production. Also last year, about 40 percent. the price of pork went down. So each pig in our sector generates a loss of between € 10 and € 40. Pig farmers suffer losses, and they cannot stop this business so quickly and regularly, because the bone production cycle takes 10 months ”, commented the head of the association.
Valdemaras Sadaunykas, a member of the Lithuanian Council of Pig Breeders, noted that only half of the pork consumed in Lithuania is grown in Lithuania.
“Pig farms have been plagued with swine fever for several years and now the pandemic has added to the problems. Prices of raw materials have dropped and feed prices have risen.
Without the help of the government, we raised the question whether Lithuania needs a pig sector. Maybe not. In that case, the Ministry of the Environment would be happy, because all pollution problems and issues would be eliminated. In the future, we could probably eradicate the poultry and livestock sectors. After all, the laid off workers could work in the public sector and we would buy meat from other countries, ”said V. Sadaunykas ironically.
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