Agriculture, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Legislation, Markets and Companies

LETA has learned that, contrary to the original plan, the letter does not mention the exact amount of the potential financial aid as Latvian farmers' organizations have been unable to reach agreement on the total amount of losses caused by Russia's embargo and a reduction in market prices of milk.

Unlike Lithuanian farmers, which have presented their estimates and are seeking about EUR 11 million from Brussels, Latvian farmers are still calculating the amount together with the Agriculture Ministry.

There are many criteria necessary for calculating the potential aid amount – milk yield, number of cattle in a herd, fodder and other costs. What farmers and the Agriculture Ministry cannot agree on is the average milk production cost, which varies from EUR 0.24 to EUR 0.3 per kilogram, depending on the size and efficiency of a given farm. The ministry's average indicator is EUR 0.27.

This means that the letter to Hogan will be sent in two weeks at best.

According to farmers' organizations, besides the letter, work is also continuing on organizing a meeting with Hogan in Brussels to discuss the dairy industry in the Baltic countries.

As reported, Agriculture Minister Janis Duklavs also said in a radio interview this morning that he was planning to meet with Hogan in August in order to discuss the current situation in the dairy industry. The European Commission indicated last year that, in case the situation does not improve, the Commission would be prepared to return to financial aid talks, said Duklavs.

LETA also reported, the milk processing and dairy company Food Union has sent an announcement to farmers, telling them that they will be reducing the purchasing price of milk by 1.5 cents from August 1, thus other dairy companies could follow suit in the near future, Edgars Berzins from the Farmers' Saeima association told LETA.