After three-hour negotiations in the eastern city of Djakovo, Agriculture Minister Petar Cobankovic and the coordinating body of farmers' associations from five Slavonian counties reached a consensus and signed an agreement in the early morning hours of Monday.
Only Zvonko Pipic from Virovitica-Podravina County did not sign, leaving the talks disgruntled before they ended.
Under the agreement, farmers won the payment of incentives for the 2009-10 spring sowing in the amount of 86 per cent. Sixty per cent of the incentives will be paid in cash, the first part by March 31 and the second by April 15, in equal amounts. The remaining 26 per cent refers to HRK 600 kuna per hectare that will be paid in intermediary products. Farms extending over 300 hectares are excluded from these measures.
"A certain harmony has been reached with this agreement and both parties maximally acknowledged each other. As a responsible government, we couldn't agree to what we can't realise. Therefore, this is not an agreement of promises. We are aware that this is a significant cut, but the state budget doesn't allow for other possibilities at present," said Cobankovic.
Farmers' representatives said they were not one hundred per cent happy with the agreement, but that it was the only realistic possibility at this moment.
Cobankovic said the agreement contained a new aspect for the settlement of the HRK 205 million debt for incentives from 2008 and their payment in 2011.
