The Ministry of Agriculture promises support to affected farmers: it will take the money from another ministry

Poultry and pig farmers, suffering losses due to falling prices and pressure from Polish producers, have asked for 20 million. euro support.

The Vilnius and Kaišiadorys poultry farms have reportedly informed Lithuanian farmers, from whom they buy broilers, that they will terminate cooperation agreements and stop buying poultry from May. According to them, such a decision was due to the fact that it suffered during the pandemic, but does not receive state support, according to the companies’ report.

“It just came to our attention then. Support for the pig and poultry sector should be approved next Wednesday at the request of the Prime Minister, and is already being coordinated with the Ministry of Finance. We will present it to the social partners this week,” said the Minister. of Agriculture Kęstutis Navickas at the meeting, emphasizing that there will be a separate support package administered by the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and noting that specific criteria have been discussed early.

The Deputy Minister of Economy and Innovation, although he promised to attend, did not attend the meeting remotely, although he was invited. At the last meeting, the ministry was also not represented by anyone.

Vytautas Tėvelis, director of the Lithuanian Poultry Association, said the sector is waiting for support.

“We are concerned that this support ceiling is tied to the amount of personal income and income taxes paid, but the sector is not very profitable and the support will be tied to one year’s taxes.” However, we have been paying for decades and the lower one year limit cannot apply. Currently, the problem is only increasing and we are waiting for help ”, explained the head of the association.

Darius Gudačiauskas, general manager of Vilnius and Kaišiadorys poultry farms, says that in the discussions it was decided to limit support and that this means that small farmers, including the Jonas Jagminas cooperatives, get out of the scheme, which is incorrect, to Despite the fact that these farms supply a third of the processed products. Even the poultry farms of the KG Group, which pay 5 million a year. The billion euro taxes will not save the entire ecosystem of producers, as other countries do. Poultry farms have suffered more than 10 million. it could reduce billing by 20%. this support, although we are now expected to support 1.7 million. although we could get another 2 million euros with the communication of the EU. euros more. If we close at least one of our factories, the problems will be enormous. 760 people will have to be fired.

“Our employees are dismayed by the slowness of the decision and the restrictions applied by Lithuania, although the EC does not require it,” said D. Gudačiauskas.

Algis Baravykas, director of the Lithuanian Pig Farmers Association, said he was glad something was revealed this week, but it was not clear what should be revealed. He noted that Latvians have already provided support to these sectors and agree with the EC, and we are already lagging behind.

“We do not know how the problem will be solved, because the support scheme is not clear and for some it will be significant, for others, if it is a related company, it will not be available,” analyzed A. Baravykas.

Paulius Lukševičius, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, noted that the funds are allocated by the Ministry of Finance and the funds will be taken from the Ministry of the Interior.

“Large companies do not rely on any sector of the economy. They take out loans on favorable terms. Especially those who have strong holding companies like KG Group. I will not even talk about the amounts, because I see that information is being leaked from the Ministry of Agriculture. I will talk about the amount only when it is in our account, when the conditions are approved by the Government, we will talk about the conditions, “said the deputy minister.

It highlights that the EC may take up to a month and a half to ratify the support plan.

Andrius Vyšniauskas, a member of the Seimas, asked how it happens that if we calculate the profit of the whole group, it is profitable, but the state must save a separate branch of business. Another aspect is that KG Group is currently selling Linas Agro Group and the support will lead to higher support cost, although this was not mentioned in the number.

“Let’s look at farmers and employees, but let’s not interfere in business relationships,” said A. Vyšniauskas.

D. Gudačiauskas said that a possible change of the main shareholder does not change the value chain and the entire production chain, which is now suffering. At present, the Lithuanian Competition Council has not yet given permission to sell the company. Now it is important to keep the farmers we have persuaded to raise chickens ourselves. They got loans, they started businesses. The other thing is the staff that the district has nothing to offer. It is easy for companies to solve this problem: the exit costs two million euros.

A. Vyšniauskas reiterated that support may not save these sectors, because problems arise due to competition in international markets and problems must be solved systematically.

Kęstutis Mažeika, a member of the Seimas, was surprised that A. Vyšniauskas, who represents the rulers, sees problems only in the sector itself. Another thing is that the material for the meeting usually has to be prepared in advance, although now no one has seen or what measures are planned, although the sector is going through hard days and the light at the end of the tunnel is not visible.

Zofija Cironkienė, director of the Lithuanian Vegetable Producers Association, said that although support for poultry farms is already being discussed, nothing has been heard about support for vegetable producers, although the hotel and restaurant sector still has not recovered. The small farms are destroying the production of the warehouses, the larger ones were able to bring them to Ukraine at a minimum price. Potatoes are sold for 8 ct. per kilogram. They need significant support after losing 30%. income, as the average price of vegetables fell 35 percent last year.

Mr Lukševičius said that the situation was known and that when the issue of aid to pig and chicken farmers was resolved, the horticulturists would also be dealt with.

According to a report by the KG Group company published last week, non-state aid poultry farms are informing farmers about reduced production and discontinuation of cooperation, and are considering closing the Kaišiadorys poultry farm.

It is reported that the poultry sector, which estimates millions in losses as a result of the pandemic, does not receive state aid and already announces plans to reduce poultry production. Today, the Vilnius and Kaišiadorys poultry farms informed Lithuanian farmers, from whom they buy broilers, that they will terminate cooperation agreements and stop buying poultry from May.

It also plans to make a decision in the near future on the closure of one of its factories, Kaišiadorys Poultry Farm. Representatives of the poultry industry affirm that Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, who stated in the media that she was delving into the consequences of the pandemic for this sector, has so far not shown any involvement in this matter.

“Last year, the former Minister of Agriculture, after learning about the problems of poultry, immediately expressed his desire to visit our factories and see the production behind the scenes. This year, the poultry industry was immediately ‘canceled’, while no representative of the new government, including the Prime Minister, came to visit us. So what kind of deepening are we talking about? “says Darius Gudačiauskas, general manager of the Vilnius and Kaišiadorys poultry farms.