August 2, 2011

Lithuanian milk producers to get US$40 million in extra direct payments

In order to support farm income, the Lithuanian government has proposed to the Agricultural Ministry to distribute LTL96 million (US$40 million) in extra direct payments for milk from the budget this year.

According to the Cabinet, milk producers owe large amounts to banks and some farmers may not survive amid growth in milk production costs and shortage of working capital. Hence, extra payments should be paid by September 1.

Rimantas Krasuckis, the director of Agriculture and Food Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, said that milk products had not yet received extra direct payments this year. Some LTL245 million (US$101 million) in extra direct payments had been requested for farmers this year but the actual amount would depend on budget resources, he added.

The government allocated LTL294 million (US$122 million) for those payments for 2010. With the EU funds included, payments for 2010 totalled LTL1.169 billion (US$480 million).