The Serbian government’s 15-day deadline, given by united Serbian farmers’ associations to start fulfilling their demands—agreed upon with former Prime Minister Ana Brnabić after last year’s protests—expired today. Since they are dissatisfied with the government’s responses, the farmers are announcing a new protest.
The letter containing their demands, addressed to the government, was signed by the Aradac Farmers’ Association, the Subotica Agricultural Producers’ Association, the Banat Farmers’ Association, and the Initiative for the Survival of Serbian Farmers, with support from the Novoseljanski Farmers, Banatska Crnica, and Dolovački Farmers associations.
The farmers demanded immediate measures to address drought damage, the postponement of agricultural loan payments, a payout of 17,000 dinars per hectare for certified seeds without needing purchase receipts this year, excise-free fuel at gas stations starting in 2025, a resolution to the debt problem with the Pension and Disability Insurance Fund (PIO), regulation of the commodity exchange, and immediate payment of all outstanding subsidies of 18,000 dinars per hectare.
In its response, the Serbian government stated that farmers receive subsidies for drought insurance premiums. However, Miroslav Matković, president of the Subotica Agricultural Producers’ Association, told Beta that insurance companies have discouraged farmers from insuring their crops against drought.
“Even if insurance companies agreed to insure against drought damage at the insistence of farmers, the Republic Hydrometeorological Institute (RHMZ) would need to declare drought as a natural disaster for insurance companies to recognize the claims. But the institute has never done this, as they claim it’s a case of insufficient rainfall, not drought,” Matković said.
He added that the “RHMZ measures the average rainfall, but farmers gain nothing from that average when rainfall from February is spread across a period when corn or other crops are growing, and not a drop of rain falls for two months.”
In the government’s response, it was also noted that if farmers want compensation from the state for drought, the process requires the Ministry of Public Investments to verify the damage assessed by commissions formed by local governments and to prepare proposals for government assistance programs.
According to Matković, local authorities claim that the Ministry of Public Investments must first propose that the government declare a natural disaster, only then can local authorities form commissions to assess the damage.
“They need to agree on who should initiate the procedure, instead of dragging us around. Two years ago, we went to Belgrade and Novi Sad so many times because of this, and still, nothing has been resolved,” Matković said.
The government’s response also mentioned that it proposed a credit restructuring plan to banks, which most farmers had already accepted earlier. However, there was no mention of the new extension of deadlines that farmers are requesting due to severe drought and crop reductions, with estimates going up to 80 percent.
The government also rejected the demand for subsidies for certified seeds without farmers submitting receipts first, stating that when the demand was accepted, the sowing season was already well underway, and farmers had not kept their receipts.
According to the government, around 98 percent of subsidies and premiums have been paid out so far. The demand for excise-free fuel to be purchased at gas stations was also rejected, with the explanation that the Petroleum Industry of Serbia (NIS) does not have special tanks for the so-called “blue” diesel.
Matković stated that farmers are not asking for the diesel to be “dyed” blue, which would require NIS and other fuel traders to build special tanks, but only for the fuel they use to be excise-free at petrol stations.
He also mentioned that the agreement to return the excise tax reduction of 50 dinars within the agreed 15-day period is not being honoured, with the disbursement of money instead being delayed by a month or a month and a half.
The government also rejected the request to write off interest on unpaid contributions for pension and disability insurance, offering a five-year repayment plan instead. This would require farmers to pay both the debt and current contributions simultaneously, with interest reduced by only 50 percent, as stipulated by current law.
Matković questioned what the government has been doing for almost a year since the agreement was signed to fulfill these demands and why no one has been held accountable for the delay.
Source - www.serbianmonitor.com
