TIRANA, Nov 21 /ATA/ – By Maela Marini/ Prime Minister Edi Rama stated on Sunday during the rollout of the agriculture budget for 2022, that “about 9 million dollars channeled from the 6% reimbursement in agriculture will go to agriculture budget and will not be spent through a non-transparent and unclear reimbursement system.”
PM started off by speaking about the protests of farmers over the overhaul of fiscal package.
Rama said that “the protests are legitimate, but those who have participated, to a large extent, are misinformed.”
“In figures it is very simple why we have decided to scrap the 6% refund and what we will do with the amount of money used for refunding. It is a step forward and not a step backwards by scrapping that reimbursement scheme. In using the logistical capacity of collectors we intended to bring the money to the farmer in relation to the accumulated production and the figure in the end turned out to be a modest figure, but above all a figure controlled by a handful of large collectors that did not necessarily go to the farmer, ” said Rama.
Rama added that “these years, the entire collection system has benefited massively from the support of the government and ARDA, and collectors today are a new force in the market.”
“Collectors need to understand that we are not against them, instead we have done our best to support them to grow. But that amount of about $ 9 million will be transferred directly to the agriculture budget rather than be spent through a non-transparent and unclear reimbursement system, where the large chunk of this money is controlled by collectors. Those funds will go directly to productivity. If the sector reaches the figure of 3.5 billion dollars in a year, how much can it be impacted by only 9 million dollars?” said Rama.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister added, “with these 9 million dollars we can do a lot by increasing the amount of financing for agriculture and increase of productivity.”
“It is very important to understand that the more time passes and the sector is internally structured with collectors, powerful producers and traders, the more impossible it is to live and survive alone in this sector. The development trend requires the creation of new synergies. Collectors, producers and agro-processors need to have an understanding of the market rather than produce and invest in directions contrary to the market trend”, added Rama. /j.p/sm/
