Hard work, patience and perseverance are needed to achieve the reconstruction of Thessaly, stressed the Minister of Rural Development and Food Lefteris Avgenakis in a meeting he had with farmers and breeders at the Town Hall of Farkadona Trikala.

It is the fourth day of continuous contacts of the entire political leadership of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food with representatives of agencies, cooperatives and agricultural associations.

In total, about 40 meetings were held where the farmers conveyed to the political leadership their anxiety about the next day and the complex problems that have arisen after the disasters.

“We know that there is anxiety in everyone and many questions about the next day. With the Prime Minister’s initiatives and actions, we have achieved the support of the EU. We must face the problems with realism. With specific projects, let’s fortify the area so that people feel safe again”, said the Ministry of AAT at the meeting with farmers of Farkadona, organized by Mayor Spyros Agantis.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has given 150 million euros and a total of 260 million have been secured from the state budget. The payment of the compensations, as the minister said, will be done by the end of June 2024. The government has given a total of half a billion so far while , as he said, the reconstruction of the area is expected to exceed 3 billion euros.

The Minister made special reference to measure 5.2, amounting to 45 million euros, through which the free (100% coverage) replacement of the animals that have been lost and also the free reconstruction of the damaged stables will proceed, with an additional free study from GEOTEE.

The prime minister’s order is to be constantly present until the place returns to normalcy, noted the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, who recalled that thanks to the initiatives of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the issue of Thessaly became clear that it is not only national but European. In fact, he informed the farmers that on January 24, the first meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture and Fisheries of the nine southern European countries, the so-called EUMED-9, will take place, where the issue of creating a permanent mechanism to deal with the effects of the climate crisis will be discussed. , as well as the proposal for the possibility of utilizing 2% of each country’s CAP, to deal with disasters from the climate crisis in the primary sector.

They attended the meeting the Deputy Minister Stavros Keletsis, the General Secretary Giorgos Stratakos, the MPs of Trikala Thanasis Lioutas and Katerina Papakosta, the vice-president of ELGO-Dimitras Nektarios Vidakis and OPEKEPE Kyriakos Babasidis and the representative of the company HVO International Miltiadis Goutzouris.

The program for the outlying areas

Yesterday afternoon Lefteris Avgenakis had, at the Cultural Center of Nicea, a long meeting with farmers from the neighboring regions.

It is recalled that approximately 180,000 hectares of arable land remain flooded in the region.

As Lefteris Avgenakis told the farmers, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and the Government as a whole, led by the Prime Minister, has been practically beside them since the first day and reminded that a special program has been drawn up for this particular region.

The schedule that has already been announced for the implementation of a special measure through the PAA to support producers in the Parakarlian regions was analyzed. The Technical Bulletin of the project has been completed. The work of the Consultant has been assigned to Mr. Dimitris Sofologia – president of the Panhellenic Federation of Agricultural Workers – and he is expected to soon complete the annex to the Technical Bulletin with the aid prices. Then the Technical Bulletin will be sent to the European Commission for the relevant consultation and approval. As the minister announced, the participation of those affected in the said measure will be done through the declaration of cultivation ISTE 2024, without requiring the submission of a separate file of supporting documents

The Minister emphasized that this is not a case that can be resolved in a few months, but requires time. And he reminded that by March at the latest, HVA International will have delivered the master plan for the steps to be followed.

It is noted that so far, the producers of the Parakarli areas have received the compensation advances for crop production.

At the meeting under Mayor of Kileler Thanasis Nasiakopoulos, the Deputy Minister Dionysis Stamenitis, the Secretary of State Kostas Baginetas and Dimitris Papagiannidis, the MPs of Larissa Christos Kellas, Christos Kapetanos and Maximos Harakopoulos, the President of ELGA Andreas Lykourentzos, the vice president of ELGO-Dimitra Nekt also participated Arios Vidakis and of OPEKEPE Kyriakos Babasidis and the representative of the company HVO International Miltiadis Goutzouris.

The Chamber’s event

Later he attended the cutting of the king cake of the Chamber of Larissa. During the event, businesses that stood out in 2023 were awarded.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications awarded Kostantinos Voulgarakis on behalf of the company “Voulgarakis SA” for its performance in 2023.

In his statements, among others, Lefteris Avgenakis said:

“This place will emerge stronger from this hardship. This crisis is an opportunity, through which #entrepreneurship will show its real power. We succeed step by step, united and united”.