Serbian farmers find agreement with government, ending five-day protests

Farmers signed a deal with the Serbian government representatives on Saturday, agreeing to higher subsidies, a milk premium, and a levy on imports, among other things, ending five days of road blockades and protests across the country.

According to the agreement, farmers will receive higher subsidies for 9,000 dinars (€77), with the state paying 18,000 dinars (€153) for a maximum of 20 hectares per household.

The agreement also foresees an increase in the maximum limit of the area of arable agricultural land from 1 January 2024 – which will go from 20 to 100 hectares, the government representative said.

The premium for milk per litre will be 19 dinars (€0.16) instead of 15 dinars (€0.13), while the subsidy per cow will increase from 30,000 to 40,000 dinars (€255 to €341). In addition, an analysis of the import control of milk and milk products will be carried out, and communication with producers will continue.

Farmers were promised that discussions on regulating the market by introducing quotas for producers would continue before importing milk.

A levy on the import of semi-hard cheeses from the EU of 300 dinars (€2.6) per kilogramme was also agreed upon.

The drainage fee will be reduced by 50% and abolished in 2024. As the government representatives assured the farmers, they will work permanently to find a solution for those milk producers whose purchase has been cancelled.

Farmers were also promised to carry out a market analysis on grain management.

Furthermore, the so-called “blue diesel” will be introduced regarding discounts on diesel fuel, which refers to discounts in the amount of excise duty on 100 litres of diesel fuel per hectare for all registered areas of agricultural holdings.

The talks on the future agricultural budget, a new policy and a subsidy policy will happen as soon as possible.

According to the agreement, the government guaranteed that the farmers’ protest participants would not be prosecuted for matters related to the demonstrations.

On the other hand, the farmers pledged to withdraw from the streets immediately and that communication with the government would continue peacefully.

(Milena Antonijević | EURACTIV.rs)