About 1,200 Romanian Farmers Picket Govt HQ Demanding Subsidies

Representatives of protesters went to the Agriculture Ministry to ask agriculture minister Ilie Sarbu to mediate a meeting between farmners and Prime Minister Emil Boc.

According to Mircea Ciurea, head of the bovine breeders’ union, farmers want authorities to check the quality of the milk imported because “they have proof that milk is substandard and contains a high load of germs" and powder milk is made into liquid milk and sold in supermarkets as fresh, natural milk.

The union leader also said subsidies per hectare are of EUR100 per hectare, five times lower than in the EU, and farmers receive them six or seven months later than they should.

Farmers are discontent with the lack of economic stability in the agriculture sector. They said they took loans for SAPARD programs with 9% interest, but rates climbed to 30% and they can no longer afford to repay their loans or keep their farms.

Ciurea added it costs 1.2 lei (EUR1=RON4.2120) to produce one liter of milk and farmers sell it to processors for RON0.5 per liter or even as little as RON0.3 per liter if the milk isn’t high quality.

About 2,000 farmers are expected at Wednesday’s protest in Bucharest. Protesters are set to picket the headquarters of the Government, Parliament and Agriculture Ministry.

The farmers demand inspections on the quality of milk coming into Romania, compensation subsidies, covering the difference between the retail price and their costs, and payments from the state to farmers if the authorities fail to provide the subsidies on time, Caras said.

Farmers claim none of the issues raised in meetings with the Parliament agriculture committees or at the Ministry of Agriculture, have found a solution.

In these conditions, farmers said they are "throwing away tens of tons of milk, bringing animals to slaughter because they can’t support them, losing their homes and wealth because they have accessed SAPARD programs and now they are unable to repay the loans, while they watch helplessly how imported dairy products sell at incredible prices in supermarkets."

In the first half of April, the SCTR unionists protested in front of the Ministry of Agriculture, demanding a protocol on the allocation of the approximate 800 million lei (EUR1=RON4.2120) meant to support animal farming, funds announced by agriculture minister Ilie Sarbu.