EXCLUSIVE: Farmers" revolt this autumn

Farmers are getting ready to start sizeable protests against the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture, as they are extremely unhappy with the lack of support for the sector and the gloomy outlook, as state aids will cease to exist starting in 2010.

The chairman of the Agrostar Federation, Ştefan Nicolae, stated for BURSA, that his organization is preparing a demonstration in Bucharest, which will be attended by several thousand farmers, and the picketing of the regional offices of public institutions.

As part of the protests scheduled for end-September - Mid-October, farmers will block border crossing points and county roads using their machines.

"We are preparing major protests because Romania"s agriculture is in a chronic crisis, and farmers will not last much longer if the current circumstances persist", said Tudor Dorobanţu, secretary general of the Agrostar Federation.

"There are just a few farmers left in Romania, if the ones that are still producing something disappear, everything will go down the drain", Mr. Dorobanţu said.

Ştefan Nicolae said the ability of the Government and of the Ministry of Agriculture to solve farmers" demands drawn up on Friday will be the deciding factor in whether the union will go through with the protests or not.

The leader of Agrostar said that his organization will submit on Monday a list of 22 claims on Tuesday to the Government, the Ministry of Agriculture and to the Agriculture Commissions of the two houses of the Parliament. The list includes: transferring the ANSVSA (The National Sanitary Veterinary and Food Safety Authority) from under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture to that of the Government, outsourcing of services such as livestock identification and tracking, a 50% cut in the price of diesel oil used for farming works and the enactment of a law concerning investment loans.

Farmers also requested the creation of new sources of funding to replace the state aids which will no longer exist starting in 2010, the identification of new sources of funding for stockbreeding, horticulture and wine-growing, the unlocking of the Law of Loans for Farming, as well as the payment of compensations for areas affected by calamities.

"In case the Government fails to solve at least half of our demands, we will resort to protests, because the current situation is unbearable", Ştefan Nicolae concluded.