“What the Prime Minister says, he does. From the moment he told the Parliament about the return of the excise duty on oil – and he has already done it for 2 years – it will be done for the third year as well”, the government representative told SKAI and on the show “Kalimera” with Giorgos Autias Pavlos Marinakis.

“Farmers, recognizing that the government is making an effort to help them, are asking to be paid earlier for liquidity reasons. The Ministry of Finance is considering to give in a better way the excise duty, so as to facilitate the farmers. And after the discussion that will take place with the Prime Minister and the fiscal data, it should be given in the best possible way so that they can have liquidity and a facility. The excise duty is a given, for the third year it will reach 82 million euros and in the coming days we will see the best possible way, as indicated by the relevant ministry,” he added.

He emphasized, however, that “the Prime Minister does not make decisions just to impress, but they are based on specific studies and specific recommendations of the competent ministries. About 1 billion euros has been given by ELGA, which was reinforced with 400 million euros and debts that went back a decade were repaid”, pointing out that “the intervention for the taxation of farmers is important, such as income tax, VAT on fertilizers and in animal feed, the stream of farmers’.

Referring to the farmers of Thessaly, the government representative emphasized that “it is now legislated that there will be no power cuts and a program for the settlement of their debts that reaches seven years. These are important measures that obviously do not eliminate the problems faced by farmers”.

Also, Mr. Marinakis noted that “the government has chosen instead of getting on the tractors to respond with actions”.

The government representative described the Prime Minister’s meeting with the farmers as “important” and underlined: “Fully understanding their anxiety, we must continue in the climate of dialogue and I believe that each day will be better than the last.”