The fee for licensing silos within the "First Silo" Programme could amount to 100 RON, according to a draft decision published on the website of the Agriculture Ministry. According to NewsIn, the fee for the silo license will be paid to the State Treasury. The actual value of the fee will be updated annually by the inflation rate announced by the National Statistics Institute (INS).
Daniel Botanoiu, Director of the Directorate for Agricultural Policy of the Agriculture Ministry, explained: "This is an audit fee. Auditors will go on site and audit the silo based on a guideline. Then, based on their report, a central commission will license the silo."
So far, centralized local data indicate that silo operators intend to license an aggregated storage capacity of some 6 million tonnes. Agriculture Minister Ilie Sarbu early this month said that Romania"s overall storage capacity was 14.4. million tonnes.
The State-driven First Silo Programme stipulates that grain producers should be able to store their crops in silos licensed by the Agriculture Ministry. Grains will be stored by classes of quality, while the farmer will receive a certificate of deposit stating the quantity they deposited. Using such certificate, the farmer will be able to apply for a bank loan in order to finance other farming activities or pay their suppliers.