On January 15, the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture reached an agreement with representatives of large agricultural organizations. Several demands of the farmers who had been protesting for six days and blocking the border with Ukraine have been met. This was reported by Euractiv.
Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu said that the agreement covers 13 farmers' demands. Discussions will continue to find a compromise on the outstanding requests.
The government has pledged to fully subsidize all agricultural excise taxes by 2026 and to immediately adopt rules for subsidized loans.
The agreement, signed after more than three hours of negotiations, does not mean an immediate end to the protest, as future negotiations with transporters could affect the duration of the protests, said Marius Micu, one of the farmers' representatives at the talks.
Micu added that it is important for the government to grant a derogation from the mandatory crop rotation rules and set a threshold of 4% of steam land in each farm by January 31.
In addition, the government has approved requests for compensation for damages caused by imports from Ukraine. Measures include clear labeling of grain and other goods, as well as electronic monitoring of seals using GPS at the port of Constanta.
Barbu denies that Romania demands taxes on grain imports from Ukraine.
