Prishtina, 6 January, 2023
The address of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, at the press conference, together with the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Faton Peci:
Dear representatives of the media,
Dear citizens,
The year we have just left behind, we have been guided by the principle that a stable economy means increased local production. Through the measures of the Economic Revival Package, throughout the year 2022, we have supported local businesses and producers to expand their production and processing capacities in order to increase local production, employment and export.
We have followed this principle especially in agriculture. In order to promote local production in the agricultural sector, we allocated over 70 million euros to over 28,000 farmers. This constitutes the largest ever government support for farmers and farmers.
During the year, we executed all payments for the category of subsidies, leaving no debt to our farmers. When faced with floods, we supported 1017 farmers from 22 municipalities who benefited from compensation for damages caused by natural disasters up to 82% of the value of the damage caused. In 2020, they were compensated for only 30% of the value of the damage.
As a result, we had more areas planted with agricultural crops, especially cereals and corn. Also, the export of agricultural and food products increased by 44. So more production. More export. More development. More employment. More progress.
However, as we have said before, in the end we will always measure and compare our achievements with our goals and potential, instead of with others and from the past.
We already have a very good start for this year. The budget for agriculture for 2023 for the first time will reach 87 million euros. Together with the support from external funds, it is expected to exceed the value of 100 million euros.
We are resuming the race with ourselves in the field of Agriculture today. Only on the sixth day of the year, as never before, together with Minister Faton Peci, we are unveiling the Program for Direct Payments – 2023.
This program, compared to that of 2022, among other things, has several innovations which we are convinced will contribute to the agricultural sector and the economic strengthening of our farmers.
For details of the Program for Direct Payments – Subsidies – 2023, I am passing the floor to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Rural Development, Faton Peci.
Last modified: January 10, 2023