Farmers will be able to apply for investment subsidies worth a total of €110 million as part of a call referred to as the 4.1 Support for Investments in Agricultural Companies from the Rural Development Programme (RDP), Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan announced at a news conference held on Monday with Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) general director Jozef Kiss in attendance.
According to Vlcan, the call should be announced on January 31, and farmers will have between March 1 and May 31 to apply for subsidies through it. The money should make up for the significant investment debt of previous periods in plant and animal production, he said.
"This is a call with an allocation of €110 million in investment in equipment and buildings. I know that farmers have been waiting a long time for this call. It's very important to implement it as soon as possible and successfully, as our farmers are struggling with huge levels of investment debt, largely brought about by unfortunate privatisations in the nineties and boundless stealing of EU funds under the governments of Smer-SD and the Slovak National Party (SNS)," stated Vlcan.
According to Vlcan, funds from the call can be drawn for investment in the construction, reconstruction or modernisation of buildings, and for acquiring equipment, including machinery and tools. Investments can also be directed towards improving sales and reducing the environmental burden.
Source: TASR
