The categorical assurance that OPEKEPE payments will be made normally to the producers who are entitled to them, was repeated by the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Kostas Tsiaras, in response to a Topical Question by SYRIZA Member of Parliament Vassilis Kokkalis.

Responding to the substance of the Question regarding the return of the unduly paid by OPEKEPE, Mr. Tsiaras stated that it is a miscalculation by the Organization due to the lack of a technical consultant during the specific period. Specifically, the error in payments resulted from the incorrect use of the 2021 entitlement line instead of the correct 2022 year.

The said error concerns 197,034 beneficiaries and the amount concerns €52,382,946.81.

As the minister pointed out, the largest number of debtors owe amounts from €1 to €500. Specifically:

  • 139,589 farmers owe between €1-250, i.e. 70.85% of the debtors.
  • While 29,906 farmers owe from €251-500, i.e. 15.18% of debtors.

The minister explained that “there is already a finding by the European Commission that these have been paid unnecessarily” and explained that “we are obliged to register them by the end of September and this is a huge step to regain the credibility of the Agency” He added: ” The important thing is that the aid is not put at any risk”.

He raised the question to Mr. Kokkalis if he accepts that some farmers receive more aid than the total of 650,000 farmers. He also recalled that often, from 2014 onwards, unduly paid sums are returned, making special reference to the case of 2017 where 159,000 farmers were subjected to the same procedure and asked to return money they had mistakenly received.

The goal, said Mr. Tsiaras, following the surveillance to which, by his decision, he has placed OPEKEPE, is for the Organization to implement the Action Plan that has been drawn up which will enable it to “operate through consolidation rules, rules of justice, which will lead him to the next day.”

He acknowledged that “there are problems that come from the past. It is possibly the first time that there is a signed duration contract with essentially an association of companies, in order until 2027 to essentially support OPEKEPE in its operation and with information systems but also with all other necessary functions, which will enable it to respond to the demands of the agricultural and livestock world”.

In closing, Mr. Tsiaras emphasized that the major issue is the implementation of the OPEKEPE Action Plan, which ensures not only transparency and justice but also continuity in the payment of European subsidies to producers, reminding that “it is not about an issue concerning one government but a national issue’.

See the topical question for OPEKEPE in the Parliament: