Financial assistance of €7,614,306 for the sheep and goat, cow and pig sectors[/B] was approved today by the Council of Ministers, following a proposal by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment. The payment of emergency financial aid to the above sectors was deemed necessary following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which caused a surge in the prices of basic products, especially animal feed.
As the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Mr. Costas Kadis, the Council of Ministers today took important decisions to support our livestock farmers.
"As is well known, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused great disruption in feed markets around the world. This has also affected Cyprus, as it has caused huge price increases, while there is also difficulty in securing feed. As is known, the state has proceeded to order 36,000 tonnes of feed raw materials to secure our stocks during this critical period," he said. He added that in determining the amount of aid for each sector, the Council of Ministers took into account the increase in feed prices which reached up to 70% compared to last year, as well as the pass-through or the possibility of passing on the increases to the entire chain of production and marketing of livestock products. He stressed that this support would give the market time to adapt to the new circumstances brought about by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In particular, the Minister said, the Government had decided to support the sheep and goat sector with an amount of 5 million, the cow sector[/B] with an amount of 1.2 million and the pig sector[/B] with an amount of 1.4 million.
Specifically for pig farming, Kadis said, 1.25 million will go to direct support to farmers, while 150.000 euros will be used for private storage of pork.
"In this way, the government is using all the available tools at its disposal at the moment, within the framework that has been established at European level to support our farmers," he said.
Cyprus is the first country in the whole of Europe to take measures to support the livestock sector after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and after the disruption of the markets.
Support for cheese makers
In addition, the Council of Ministers decided today to support cheese makers with the amount of 890 thousand euros.
In particular, according to a proposal submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment, exceptional State aid is to be paid to support cheese dairies in order to mitigate the effects of the pandemic of the coronavirus and to cover part of the damage caused by the maintenance of increased stocks of cheese products until they are reduced to normal levels.
"The Council of Ministers has decided to allocate an amount of 890 thousand euros to support cheese farmers to manage the impact of the stockpiling of cheese products due to the coronavirus pandemic," said Mr. He said that the Government recognizes that by helping cheese dairies, it is essentially helping all those involved in the production chain of cheese products and, in particular, our farmers.
Because, the Minister explained, if cheese dairies reduce their milk intake because of their stocks, then this will have an impact on farmers, who will lose part of their turnover and income.
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