• On Tuesday, January 16, a working meeting was held between the Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, and employers in the food industry.
At the end of the discussions, Minister Florin Barbu gave assurances regarding the continuation of support for the food industry. He emphasized that the authorities want to develop this sector in such a way as to process as much raw material as possible and to reduce the import of finished products.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development stated that: "This is the first time and I think it has never happened before Ministry of Agriculture to remove such an important program for processing from Romania - the program We invest - with an allocation of 520 million euros.
Projects of almost 1,1 billion euros have been submitted and we are trying, together with my colleagues from Finance and with the support of Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, to finance this whole program, because we really want to process as much raw material as possible , let's stop exporting it and import finished products."
Florin Barbu, during the same meeting, also mentioned the allocation of the sum of 600 million euros from The Modernization Fund for energy independence intended for both Romanian farms and processing units:
"Through the European Investment Bank, from the Modernization Fund, we have an allocation of 600 million euros for energy independence both in farms in Romania and in processing units. We want this money to be accessed by Romanian industry.
I really want to develop this sector. Of course, we will continue to finance the food industry in Romania because we really want, as we said earlier, to produce Romanian products in Romania and not to import other products for Romanians and for our country."
Support for the food industry – of major importance
Present for the discussions, the president BREAKING, Aurel Popescu, pointed out the major importance of granting loans with subsidized interest and guaranteed by the state for working capital and for investments for the food industry.
"This is very important for us and for the farmers after all, because we will have the necessary money to buy wheat from the farmers, paying quickly and having the possibility to make winter stocks.
We invest is good, and the minister proposed that in 2024 we have the money divided by sector, so that all sectors benefit from these investments. Photovoltaic panels are also very important, and we will discuss with colleagues from the country tomorrow. We hope things start on a good note."
Sorin Minea, the president Roma food, considered the discussion with the relevant minister "a little satisfying, but encouraging", given the presentation of a support program for the food industry.
At the end of the authorities' dialogue with the representatives of the food industry, it was agreed to set up a working group that will meet once every two weeks with the departments of the Ministry of Agriculture to clarify the issues related to the normative acts necessary for the food industry to have no problems.
Article written by Gabriela Dan, Editor of Arta Albă
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