Some milk farmers associations late on Thursday evening signed an agreement defining a model for determining the purchase price of milk under which the purchase price will be HRK 2.43 per litre, however, the HSUPM national federation of dairy farmers' associations did not agree to the proposed price and will continue to protest, representatives of the Agriculture Ministry, dairy industry and milk farmers said after a meeting of the Council for the Dairy Industry.
The new model for determining the milk purchase price is an average of five EU countries (Germany, France, Hungary, Slovenia and Romania). The agreement is valid for three months and according to present price calculations the purchase price of milk in the said period would be HRK 2.43 per litre, Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina said.
The agreement was signed by representative of four milk farmers associations - the Osijek-Baranja County Milk Farmers' Association, the KIM milk farmer association, Mliko association and the Hrvatska Mala Mljekara association - as well as representatives of dairy industry. Minister Jakovina said HSUPM did not sign the agreement, adding that this was expected.
Milk farmers have been protesting for ten days now outside the Dukat dairy company in Zagreb and its daughter company Sirela in Bjelovar, and over the last few days the protests have spread to a number of other locations across the country.
