Representatives of farmers' associations from ten counties announced after a meeting in Grabarje near Kutjevo, eastern Croatia, on Sunday that they would organise major protests at 1100 hours on Tuesday July 26 unless their demands were met by midnight on Monday.
Their main demand, which will be addressed today to Agriculture Minister Petar Cobankovic, the government and wheat buyers, is that the minimum purchase price of wheat should be 1.60 kuna per kilogram and that harvest subsidies should be paid no later than September 15.
The chairman of the coordinating body of farmers' associations from Slavonia and Baranja, Dragutin Dukic, said that farmers would block about 20 roads unless their demands were met.
"We will not give up our demands. We have vegetable and fruit growers and grape farmers on our side. We are not taking to the streets to block citizens, but they should know that the ratio of wheat to bread is 8:1. We are asking why people eat expensive bread if we produce cheap wheat?" Dukic said.
Dukic blamed the present situation on wheat buyers, and on the Agriculture Ministry, which he said wanted to "wash its hands". "It is the Ministry that should say: wheat is our strategic product and its price must be determined by the market," he added.
Dukic described proposed wheat prices of 1.35 kuna per kilogram and lower as "shameful and unacceptable".
