Agrarian Chamber president warns Visegrad Four farmers increasingly dependent on subsidies

Jan Veleba - the president of that Czech Agrarian Chamber - has warned that farmers in the Visegrad Four, that is the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, are growing increasingly dependent on EU subsidies as sales revenues have decreased. Mr Veleba made the announcement after a Visegrad meeting on Saturday. He pointed out that farmers want to turn around the decline in production and push for a change in rules in the use of agricultural products in the energy industry. There, they would like to see an increase of revenues from bioethanol, biooil and biogas. According to Mr Veleba, the chamber is planning on holding a summit of non-government agrarian organisations from new EU countries in the fall. Visegrad Four representatives, meanwhile, are to meet again in July.

Author: Jan Velinger