Taking into account the consequences of the storm of August 7, 2023, which caused significant damage to agricultural production and processing, as well as the need to repair the damage caused to production buildings or structures in the shortest possible time, the Ministry of Agriculture (ZM) has decided to immediately announce the submission of projects for the “Investments in tangible assets” measure in the sub-measures “Support for investments in agricultural farms” and “Support for investments in processing” for the renovation of production buildings and structures of agricultural production or agricultural processing enterprises.
Applicants can submit project submissions until December 1, 2023, and after submitting the projects, the Rural Support Service (RSS) will immediately evaluate the projects and grant support. Within the scope of the projects, expenses for the renovation of buildings or structures of agricultural production or processing of agricultural products or the purchase of necessary building materials are eligible. In order to receive support, the applicant must submit supporting information that proves weather damage on August 7, 2023.
Since this investment support is for the damage caused by the storm, the project will not require investment in economic activity indicators and goals. For this financing can apply agricultural producers who have registered as performers of economic activity and who have had income from agricultural activity or processing of agricultural products. The planned funding for the event is three million euros, but if the reserved funding exceeds 80% of the available funding, a proportional reduction will be applied to the applications.
In addition to supporting farmers, the European Commission’s emergency funding for EU farmers was granted by the regulation of 14 July 2023 on EU emergency support for agricultural sectors due to economic and climatic conditions. The EU emergency aid granted to Latvia is EUR 6.8 million with the possibility of granting additional state aid, which does not exceed 200% of the granted amount.
The Ministry of Agriculture has prepared an informative report in which it will call on the government to grant state co-financing in the amount of 200% – the informative report is planned to be submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers for consideration in the near future. The conditions for granting support should be determined by the member states themselves, based on objective criteria and taking into account the economic losses incurred by farmers. Aid must be granted in such a way as not to create distortions of the market or competition. In order to prevent the risk of overcompensation, Member States should take into account other state or EU aid granted to prevent these economic losses when granting aid. The emergency aid must be paid by January 31, 2024.
In the informative report “On the critical situation in the agricultural sector, which affects the economic viability of agricultural producers and the possible solutions for mitigating the negative impact”, the government will be informed about the critical situation that has developed in the agricultural sector in connection with a set of several unfavorable conditions – the high prices of resources and raw materials important for production at the same time as the decrease in purchase prices of products (milk, beef and cereals), the drought and frost in the spring of 2023, as well as hail, affect the predicted yield reduction, which threatens the economic viability and continued existence of agricultural products manufacturing companies.
Information source: Ministry of Agriculture
