Florin Barbu: "We will double the allocation for Investalim"

The Minister of Agriculture Florin Barbu stated: "We have the Strategic Plan that is expected by many farmers. There is money that will be released in the first session until the end of November, somewhere close to 2.2 billion euros. There is money on the processing side for smaller farmers, and the Government of Romania has taken the decision, for a very important project, Investalim, of almost 600 million euros, for processing at a higher level".

The amount initially allocated for the government's Investalim program could be doubled up to 1.2 billion euros and farmers will be able to benefit from advantageous loans for working capital with commissions paid by the Ministry of Agriculture, these are the measures announced yesterday by Minister Florin Barbu, within a debate held in the context of the International Fair of products and equipment in the field of agriculture, horticulture, viticulture and animal husbandry - INDAGRA 2023, an event held in the ROMEXPO Exhibition Complex in Bucharest.

The Minister of Agriculture stated: "We have the Strategic Plan that is expected by many farmers. There is money that will be released in the first session by the end of November, somewhere close to 2.2 billion euros. There is money on the processing side for smaller farmers, and the Romanian Government has taken the decision, on a very important project, Investalim, of almost 600 million euros, to process at a higher level. I say this because we really want, both me and Mr. Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, for this program to be doubled to almost 1.2 billion euros in Romania, in such a way that the raw material that is produced in Romania is processed here, to stop being exported and to bring finished products from export".

Florin Barbu said that MADR also has ambitious programs on the energy independence side, which will be launched starting on November 5 and specified: "Basically, it is about energy independence in farms for farmers and for processors, as well as for the system of irrigation in Romania. We are talking about the irrigators' associations because we want to reduce energy costs as much as possible and, basically, for this money to remain with the farmers, to be able to invest, to be able to have money to finance the projects that in the coming period I am sure they will submit through the strategic program".

Regarding lending to farmers, the Minister of Agriculture announced the launch in the next period of a credit line with a low interest rate and commissions paid by the relevant ministry.

Florin Barbu pointed out: "We know the difficulty faced by farmers today. We are trying, and I am sure I will succeed - we also had a discussion at the Council of Ministers and the Commission - to launch a farmer's loan with a very good interest rate of 1.95%, and Robor and all commissions will be paid by the Ministry Agriculture. It will be a credit for working capital with a value of up to 20% or 30%, we see depending on the turnover achieved by each farmer, a credit for a period of 5 years, through which Romania and the Government of Romania make available almost 4.5 billion lei".

The Minister of Agriculture also announced that all the states of the European Union agreed, within the AgriFish Council from the beginning of this week, Romania's proposal for the extension in 2024 of the exemptions on GAEC 7 (crop rotation) and GAEC 8 (keeping 4% of the farm area unworked, respectively fallow).

The measure to extend the conditionality exemptions provided by GAEC 7 and GAEC 8 is intended to allow farmers to offset their losses caused by reduced grain prices and severe drought.

NOTE:

The objective of the INVESTALIM scheme is "financial support to stimulate domestic food production".

The program will be run by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, through the Agency for Financing Rural Investments (AFIR). The maximum budget of the INVESTALIM Program for the period 2023 - 2026 is approximately 600 million euros, respectively 148 million euros annually.

Through this program, regional state aid will be granted to support investments in the acquisition of assets for the establishment of new units, the expansion of the capacity of an existing unit, the diversification of production through the manufacture of new products.

According to the legislation regarding this scheme, processing units will be built in the following fields: meat processing and preservation, fish industry, potato industry, fruit and vegetable juice field, fruit and vegetable processing and preservation, oil and fat manufacturing, dairy product manufacturing and cheese making, milling products manufacturing, bread manufacturing, sugar manufacturing and livestock and pet food manufacturing.