The process for immediate payment of advances to the affected farmers of Thessalylaunched by amendment filingyesterday in Parliament, by the Ministers of Rural Development and Food, Lefteris Avgenakis, and of the National Economy and Finances, Kostis Hatzidakis.

The amendment ensures the financing of the livestock and crop production compensations to the affected producers of Thessaly, as well as the non-disposal of the amounts that the beneficiaries will receive.

It is recalled that at the request of the producers themselves and local bodies, the deadline for the submission of declarations by those affected was postponed for an additional ten days, and ended on October 20. 30,088 declarations were filed for damage related to plant production and 2,366 declarations related to loss of livestock.

The amendment concerns livestock breeders, beekeepers and farmers of Thessaly and the other regions affected by the Daniel and Elias disasters and as stated the cost of the compensation “burdens the state budget”. It also provides that “for the implementation of the action by decision of the Minister of National Economy and Finance, credits are transferred from the State Budget to the ELGA Budget”.

The amendment is to be voted on on November 2nd, as it has been tabled in the Ministry of the Interior’s bill under discussion “New system for selecting the administrations of public sector bodies”, which is the first bill to be discussed by the Parliament, after the suspension of its work for on the 28th of October

On the same day, a Joint Ministerial Decision of the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Lefteris Avgenakis and the Deputy Minister of National Economy and Finance, Thanos Petralias, is issued, which has already been prepared and is in line with Community legislation.
The Ministry of Finance will immediately transfer to the Bank of Greece, first, 150 million euros for the payment of compensation advances which ELGA will credit to the accounts of the beneficiary breeders-beekeepers, within three working days.

Accordingly, the advances for plant production will be paid before the last ten days of November.
Taking into account the huge volume of submission of damage declarations by the affected, which are being processed by the ELGA services, the timetables are in accordance with the announcements of the leadership of the HYPAAT. The process is being completed in the fastest possible time that advances have been made to date, under the weight of the consequences of such an extensive disaster which caused unprecedented losses.
At the same time, to date, 8,489 businesses, agricultural holdings and livestock units of Thessaly have been paid by the State Aid, which is managed by the Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection Chr. Triandopoulos, a total of 19.8 million euros

It is noted that in a draft law that will be presented to the Council of Ministers next Tuesday, October 31, by the Minister of AAT, Lefteris Avgenakis, are included a series of provisions concerning the farmers and breeders of Thessaly and infrastructure in the region, as well as a series of other arrangements concerning the Ministry of Agriculture Development and Food.

The amendment is as follows:

“Aid for agricultural holdings affected by the extreme weather events of September 2023

1. Aid may be granted to agricultural holdings, in accordance with state aid rules, as compensation for damage to crop production and livestock caused by the extreme weather events of September 2023. Beneficiaries are natural persons, legal persons and legal entities . The action is implemented by the Hellenic Agricultural Insurance Organization (ELGA) and the relevant expenditure is covered by the state budget. For the implementation of the action, by decision of the Minister of National Economy and Finance, appropriations are transferred from the state budget to the ELGA budget.

2. The aid of par. 1 is tax-free, non-confiscatable and non-assignable in the hands of the State or third parties, in derogation of any other general or special provision, not applying par. 1 of article 47 of Law 4172/2013 (Α΄ 167) in the event of its distribution or capitalization, it is not subject to any fee, levy or other withholding in favor of the State, is not bound and is not set off against confirmed debts to the Tax Administration and the State in general, the legal entities under public law, the Local Government Organizations and the their legal entities, insurance funds or credit institutions and is not counted in the income limits for the payment of any social or welfare benefit.

3. By decision of the Ministers of Rural Development and Food and National Economy and Finance, the form of the aid is determined, the beneficiaries are specified, the amount of the aid and its determination methodology, the most specific terms and conditions, the procedure for granting the aid, the required supporting documents and the manner of its payment, the obligations of the beneficiaries, as well as any other necessary detail for the implementation of this”.