By Penelope Galliou

The government seeks to prevent in any way the tension and the conflict with the farmers at a time when the pressure is intensifying from its front mainly in Thessaly, but also from the rest throughout the country, with the farmers demanding the implementation of their demands and setting ultimatum to resolve by next Saturday.

Megaros Maximos and after Sunday’s meeting, but also through the Prime Minister during his meeting with the President of the Republic as part of their regular meetings, continues to extend a hand of friendship to the rural world, continuing to insist on dialogue. “We are a government that is always open to all social issues, we listen to society, we also listen to the farmers who are now protesting, to a large extent, justifiably, about issues that have to do with the increase in production costs,” said Kyriakos Mitsotakis .

Realizing the massiveness and determination of the agricultural mobilizations in combination with the “current” that exists in other European countries, where mobilizations are also taking place at this time and demonstrate the magnitude of the problem, the prime minister focused on the government’s policy of supporting the primary sector .

“The problem is not only Greek, you see it manifesting itself all over Europe. But I want to remind you that we were the party that supported agricultural income through a series of policies and our doors are always open in the context of fiscal I want to emphasize this, we always want to support the primary sector, a primary sector and to close with this, which of course in recent years despite the difficulties has achieved significant growth rates as the exports of Greek agricultural products go from record to record. So let’s also keep the positive side of an agricultural sector that, despite the difficulties, is changing and must adapt, and we must help it in this adaptation so that it too can be more competitive,” pointed out Mr. Mitsotakis.

The government’s intentions are revelatory in the amendment tabled last night in the Parliament and it concerns the suspension of electricity payments for two years, for the farmers affected by the catastrophic storm Daniel. An arrangement suspending for 2024 and 2025 the collection of unpaid debts of rural electricity consumers affected by last September’s floods.

In addition, from 1/1/2026, their debts can be subject to a zero interest settlement, while the entire interest charge is covered by the State with an equal amount of subsidy from the electricity supplier.

Speaking to SKAI, the Minister of Environment and Energy, Theodoros Skylakakis, stated that “TOEB GOEB will also be included in the large Apollo program to support vulnerable households, we will reduce the cost of irrigation, which is a basic cost for rural electricity”.

However, a long-term solution for the agricultural sector, according to Mr. Skylakakis, is for more farmers to switch to self-consumption. A subsidized program for the installation of photovoltaics in the fields is still open.

Under consideration is for the government and the issue of rural oil for which discussions are being held between the two co-competent Ministries, Rural Development and Finance for further actions. Moreover, the government recalls that already in the context of its support to farmers, it has intervened for the refund of the excise duty (EFFK) for agricultural oil and, more broadly, to support increases in oil, a series of policies in favor of farmers.

In any case, the message sent by Megaros Maximos is that all the requests of the farmers are evaluated by the government, as well as that the interventions in favor of the farmers are continuous because the needs are also continuous.

The critical “crash test” for the government is expected to be the Agrotica exhibition that will be held February 1-4 in Thessaloniki, where a large mobilization is being organized by the coordinating bodies of the farmers.