The axes of the four measures for the primary sector, announced by the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis of TIF, were analyzed by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Kostas Tsiaras, during an Interministerial Press Conference.
The aim of these measures, as Tsiaras stressed, is “to reduce production costs in the primary sector, freeing it from the burdens of the past, stimulating extroversion where we can best and expanding the country’s production potential”.
He stressed that the measures aim to “bring greater replacement of imports with national products, strengthen exports of products with a competitive advantage, strengthen national production, create more jobs in the primary sector, restructure production with high-value agri-food products and rebrand Greek products”.
Specifically, speaking about the Special Tax on the Consumption of Agricultural Oils, Tsiaras said that it was abolished in 2016, and the government in the last three years has returned 50% of the Special Tax, an amount that exceeds 250 million euros.
From 2025, as I said, a zero rate of excise duty (EFFK) is planned to be applied to diesel engine oil, which is used exclusively in agriculture. It was noted that the return of the said EFC is inalienable and unappropriated by the State or third parties, as well as not subject to any retention or offset.
The measure will benefit 298,000 professional farmers, while its aim is to reduce production costs by creating a permanent Excise Duty refund mechanism. It was noted that the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision will be issued after consultation with ETHEAS and Social Agencies.
Regarding the measures for red loans in the primary sector, Tsiaras stressed that today these amount to a total of 3.8 billion euros, the charges correspond to 26,000 properties (worth 1.5 billion euros), 750 cooperatives and 21,000 farmers.
This measure aims to support cooperative schemes, strengthen sustainable cooperatives, direct access to new bank financing solutions, attract capital to the primary sector and sustainable agricultural lending arrangements.
Reviewing the mechanism, which will be created in collaboration with ETHEAS, Mr. Tsiaras said it will include:
- New framework for settlement/reimbursement of commitment with significant cancellation of debts based on the accounting balance sheet.
- Combined solution for old claims (debt cancellation solutions) with new simultaneous bank financing.
- Promote synergies between sustainable cooperatives
- Direct use of properties and their rental to increase cash flow
- Promoting Mergers – Splits and unsustainable Corporate Transformations in general.
At the same time, as noted by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, there will be additional tools, such as linking the Plan with innovative banking programs such as contract cards and special purpose working capital.
The implementation framework includes detailed mapping of Cooperatives as well as designing solutions. After transferring existing non-performing agricultural loans to a new, strong and flexible scheme that will be created in partnership with the National Association of Agricultural Cooperatives (ETHEAS).
Commenting on greenhouse cultivation in our country, the Minister of Rural Development and Food pointed out that in Greece there are currently 49,000 acres of greenhouses, while in the Netherlands the areas amount to 120,000 acres.
The aim of the measure to develop greenhouse crops in our country announced by the Prime Minister of TIF is to increase production, save energy by 30%, reduce water consumption, create new jobs and protect the environment – saving natural resources.
As regards in financial instrumentsThe budget for the measure amounts to 600 million euros. Of this, 50% will come from the RDP, 35% from bank loans and 15% from equity. It has been noted that in areas affected by natural disasters and in the northern Aegean, the aid rate will increase by 10%.
Beneficiaries will be individuals and legal entities, but also collective forms of agricultural cooperative law (producer groups, producer organizations, agricultural cooperatives and their associations, except those financed by another Sectoral Program).
Finally, referring to the YPAAT idle land exchange and compensation plan, according to data presented by Mr. Tsiaras, the situation today is as follows:
Residential archive (estimated – mostly unused after expropriations):
- Forests: 2.448 million hectares
- Pastures, rangelands and fallow land: 7.335 million acres
- Fields, woodlands, other: 1.799 million acres
The aim of the plan is to utilize the inactive lands of HYPAAT for agricultural use for social and developmental reasons.
According to the competent minister, the entire process involves updating N4061/12 with:
- Modernization of the institutional framework for managing the Ministry’s assets
- Clarification of responsibilities for the management and protection of said lands
- Resolve outstanding issues related to property issues as well as land use change issues
- Removal of bureaucratic obstacles to the establishment or transfer of real rights in private lands.
- Creation of a Working Group in collaboration with the Ministry of Digital Governance for the complete mapping of available land.
“In this way, the main axes through which the Ministry of Rural Development and Food introduces specific options are described, so that the primary sector offers more to both the national economy and societies”, concluded Tsiaras.
Main domain data
At the beginning of his appointment, the Minister of Rural Development and Food spoke about the situation that prevailed in 2019 in the primary sector of our country and presented data on how it will shape up in 2023.
Specifically, in 2019 the deficit in the agricultural products balance reached 731,216,078 euros, while in 2023 a surplus of 452,610,528 euros was achieved.
Fruit and vegetable exports in 2019 reached 2.2 billion euros, while in 2023 they amounted to 3.2 billion euros. The main destinations of Greek exports are
Italy (18.6% of exports), Germany (11.3%), USA (6%), Spain (5.3%) and United Kingdom (4.9%).
As regards meat imports, from 1.2 billion euros in 2019 they reached 1.6 billion euros in 2023.
Tsiaras noted that in 2020, 412,000 people were employed in the primary sector (agriculture, forestry, fishing), while in 2023 this number now amounts to 480,900 people.
Finally, the increase in young men (20-29) employed in the primary sector is significant, since in 2020 there were 21,700 and in 2023 35,300. The same applies to women, who went from 159,600 in 2020 to 176,000 in 2023. “Around 25,000 new jobs were created in plant and animal production alone,” said Tsiaras.