OR regulation for bad loans in the agricultural sector will come – as long as it has been completed – at the Council of Ministers which will be held at the end of the month, said the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Kostas Tsiaras, in a televised interview.
He pointed out that, for the first time, a similar arrangement is being attempted. which concerns 21,000 farmers and more than 760 cooperatives. With the regulation, he explained, it will be possible to refinance the loans, in such a way that the debtors can survive financially and settle their loans definitively.
“At the ministerial office, end of the month”
“If everything goes well, possibly in the cabinet, at the end of the month, the specific bill will be presented, where there will be a very significant reduction of the basic capital. There will be the possibility of refinancing from the bank, in order to free more than 760 agricultural cooperatives and 21,000 farmers from this hoarseness. These are not small numbers. There will also be a loan write-off or write-off, which will essentially allow them to survive, repaying their loan and freeing up their assets,” the Minister for Rural Development and Food told Action24 TV.
For the refund of the Excise Tax
Asked about the issue of the return of the Special Consumption Tax, he recalled that in 2016 it was abolished by SYRIZA and that, during the last three years, the ND government has returned 240 million euros to farmers. He clarified that the 100 million euros that have been budgeted as a refund of the tax on agricultural oil is an indicative amount that concerns farmers as their main occupation and that there is an intention on the part of the government to rationalize it. He also assured the farmers that the method of returning the EFFK, which in practice is set to zero, will be fair.
For the Prime Minister’s commitments
Regarding the Prime Minister’s commitment to the TIF to strengthen greenhouse crops, the Minister of Rural Development and Food pointed out that this is a crop that gives perspective to the primary sector, as it gives added value to the products produced. He specifically mentioned that, while in 2019 the exports of greenhouse products were 2.2 billion euros, in 2023 it had risen to 3.2 billion euros. For the strengthening of greenhouse crops, as he said, 300 million will be given from the Agricultural Development Program (RDP). while the remaining 300 million of the program will be covered by 35% from bank loans and 15% from equity.
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