According to her statement European Commissiona Greek program was approved, amounting to approximately 25 million euros, to support apple and chestnut producers, in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

This funding scheme was approved under the temporary crisis and transition state aid framework, which was approved by the Commission on 9 March 2023 to support measures in areas that are key to accelerating the green transition and reducing dependency from the fuel.

The new Framework partly amends and extends the Temporary Crisis Framework, which was adopted on 23 March 2022 to allow Member States to support the economy in the context of the current geopolitical crisis, already amended on 20 July 2022 and October 28, 2022.

Under the scheme, aid will take the form of direct grants.

The measure will be open to apple and chestnut producers.

The purpose of the scheme is to compensate eligible beneficiaries for part of the additional production costs incurred due to the increase in the price of energy and other inputs and to help them overcome their financial difficulties linked to the current crisis.

The Commission found that the Greek regime is in line with the conditions set out in the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework.

In particular, the aid will not exceed 250,000 euros per beneficiary and will be granted no later than December 31, 2023.