Animal Farmers Take Grievances To Government"s Door

• Protesters, law enforcement clash over unpaid subsidies • Government proposes payment schedule

Animal farmers picketed the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Finance yesterday, being extremely displeased with the delays in the disbursement of subsidies and with the very low value of such subsidies. Protesters split into two groups in the morning, as sheep and goat farmers picketed the Ministry of Agriculture, whereas cattle farmers protested in front of the Ministry of Finance. In the afternoon, cattle farmers also went to Cotroceni Palace to demand the Presidency"s support for their cause.

Although some frictions exist between the two organisations, after the National Union of Cattle Farmers in Romania withdrew from the Agrostar Federation (which also represents sheep and goat farmers), their demands are the same: the State must step in to avoid an animal farming disaster caused by substantial delays in the disbursement of promised subsidies.

Interim Minister of Agriculture Radu Berceanu recently said that, in many cases, "agricultural subsidies went to other pockets," meaning that subsidy recipients had received more subsidies than the number of animals they actually had would have allowed.

"If the disbursement of the subsidies for the animal farmers had been performed correctly, the beneficiaries could have received doubled subsidies," Berceanu added, stressing that the Ministry of Agriculture should develop a system of auditing beneficiaries after the disbursement of the subsidies.

The 300 sheep and goat farmers who protested in front of the Ministry of Agriculture are also displeased that the payment of the subsidy of 44 RON per capita, which should have been made by 1 October, was still pending.

Agrostar President Stefan Nicolae stressed that the failure to disburse the subsidies would drive animal farming into bankruptcy and force farmers to send some 6.5 million sheep and goat to the slaughterhouse. In his opinion, 70-80 per cent of the farms could be closed at the loss of thousands of jobs. The union leader warned that the farmers would block Bucharest with hundreds of animals next week, should the matter of the delayed money not be solved by then.

In turn, Marcel Andrei, President of the National Union of Sheep and Goat Farmers (SNCOC), said that farmers could give up the business as they were simply running out of food to feed their animals. According to him, the longer the payment is delayed, the worse the farmers" situation will become, considering that the price of fodder will most likely double during the cold season.

The morning protests in front of the Finance Ministry did not remain peaceful, as angry farmers clashed with riot police on the Ministry"s doorstep. The situation repeated in the afternoon at the Cotroceni Palace, the headquarters of the Romanian Presidency, but this time the clashes were much stronger. Hundreds of cattle farmers shouted that they could take no more and that they would simply go bankrupt in the absence of the 570 RON subsidy, which should have been paid in early October.

According to SNCTR President Costel Caras, the farmers will not leave Bucharest before they receive their money. "We have never received any money without putting some pressure," he said, emphasizing that, should the cattle farmers" demands not be settled, protests would continue and include pickets at the county prefectures and roadblocks on major roads.

• Government proposes payment schedule

Following the protests, the farmers had negotiations with officials from the picketed ministries, but the results were rather disappointing. Agrostar President Stefan Nicolae summarized for BURSA the recent negotiations with the Agriculture Ministry. "We had a round of negotiations with Minister Berceanu yesterday and he proposed that the subsidy be paid in three steps. We do not agree. We want a lump payment or two instalments at most. If we do not get that, we will continue to protest."

In turn, SNCTR President Costel Caras told BURSA that the talks at the Finance Ministry had failed to lead to an acceptable result. "They suggested to pay the subsidy in three steps. We asked either a lump payment or maximum two steps until the elections. We will also go to Cotroceni Palace to see President Basescu. If this problem is not solved, we will continue to protest.

Agriculture Ministry representatives explained for BURSA that the subsidies had not been disbursed because the animal census had finished late. For instance, the sheep and goat census was completed on 15 October.

Contacted by BURSA, Agriculture Ministry Secretary General Miron Moldovan said: "We have drafted a Government decision regarding sheep and goat. It will be discussed by the Government on Wednesday (i.e. yesterday). The 44 RON subsidy will probably be disbursed in two steps: the first step as soon as possible and the second step by the end of the year or early next year." Referring to cattle farmers, Secretary General Moldovan told BURSA that a first payment of 200 RON per capita would be disbursed in the following few days, while the remaining part of the subsidy would be paid at the end of the year or early next year.