Romanian farmers threaten to start a large-scale nationwide protest on June 7, if the authorities do not ban the transit and import of grain from Ukraine for the period from June 15, 2023 to March 15, 2024, announced the Alliance of Agriculture and Cooperation of Romania (AAC).
The Alliance notes that the country’s agricultural market is “severely disrupted, which hurts Romanian farmers.” The organization claims that in 2023, the majority of Romanian farmers will be forced to close their farms due to the high costs of growing agricrops, and the prospect of selling products at prices below cost “even under good production conditions will not save them.”
The appeal of the AAC also emphasizes that the 10 mln euros allocated by the European Commission to Romania to mitigate the losses are insignificant.
“These funds at most can be redirected to the restoration, at least partially, of the road infrastructure damaged by the intensive transit of Ukrainian goods” the AAC said.
It should be noted that the member organizations of the Alliance of Agriculture and Cooperation – the National Federation of PROAGRO, the League of Associations of Agricultural Producers of Romania (LAPAR), the Union of the National Branch of Vegetable Sector Cooperatives (UNCSV) and the Forum of Professional Farmers and Processors from Romania (FAPPR) – collectively grow agricultural crops and engage in animal husbandry on more than 4.7 mln ha. The organization includes more than 56.5% of those employed in the agricultural sector and 20% of the food industry in Romania.
Source: Apkinform