Farmers Made To Return Subsidies In Cash. Literally

Hundreds of farmers returned their subsidies to the country branches of the Agency for Agricultural Payments and Intervention (APIA) in cash. The money was then transported by car to Bucharest, which is a violation of European regulations. APIA still holds an aggregate receivable of 3.5 million RON from farmers, from the initial total of 6.5 million RON, which was disbursed for the 2007-2008 farming works. Subsequent audits revealed that the subsidies were illegal, so APIA decided to recall the money in a rather unusual way for a public institution: in cash.In order not to pay banking fees for transfers, the farmers refused to use electronic payment options. In turn, local agencies of the State Treasury refused to collect cash from individuals. Consequently, APIA management instructed county branches to accept cash from the farmers in question, thus violating EU norms which ban the use of cash in such circumstances.Under normal circumstances, the farmers in question should have used their bank accounts to transfer the money to the APIA account opened with the State Treasury. APIA sources said that, after being collected in cash, the money was transported to Bucharest by car, instead of being deposited to the local agencies of the State Treasury.Asked by BURSA why this hilarious method had been chosen to recover the money, APIA management avoided the answer and said: "The recovery of the funds is done in line with the procedures defined in the Receivable Ascertainment and Confirmation Manual made by the Collections Department of the Legal Directorate. According to these procedures, the receivable ascertainment report, made by the staff appointed to perform the audit, become exactable 15 days after notification. If the money is not returned within 15 days, the money will be withheld from the money due to the beneficiaries for the 2008-2009 farming works."

However, this answer was not included in the troublesome note of the APIA management, which we quote above.

The Agency for Agricultural Payments and Intervention (APIA) is subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development. As of 1 January 2007, APIA manages the European funds allocated for the implementation of the support measures financed from the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund. Subsidies are disbursed as direct payments per hectare and are managed by the Integrated Administration & Control System and within the market measures for the implementation of the commercial mechanisms according to the Common Agricultural Policy.

Cătălin Deacu, Darius Porumboiu