By Gifts Antoniou

They make a road race to start paying payments to farmers as soon as possible, as every day of delay inflates dissatisfaction with the rural population. Reassuring that payments by OPEKEPE will begin as soon as the European Minister of Rural Development appeared yesterday. Costas Tsiaras. Indeed, sources from the Ministry of Rural Development do not even rule out the “green light” within today’s day to begin payments.

OLAF’s raid has brought a short day delay“The old biological, agriculture and beekeeping”as the minister said. The new delay enhances the suspicion of the rural population for the possibility of permanent loss of funds and subsidies.

Government sources acknowledge that the start of payments, even those involving older programs, will convey a message that Gradually the normalcy for subsidies is restored After the great disruption and delays caused by the scandal of OPECEPE and the forced measures taken to strengthen the audits. On the contrary, the new delay caused by OLAF raid cumulative It enhances producers’ dissatisfaction.

The climate in the region is anything but favorable at this juncture, as shown by the reactions with which both Mr Tsiaras and other government officials in cities in the province have recently been faced. And the anxiety of MPs coming from rural areas is great. Mr Tsiaras, elected in Karditsa, has his own understanding of the situation and climate in the ranks of the farmers and at the same time knows the whole context and what really applies to controls and payments.

So today he will meet with ruling party members to inform them of the real dimensions of the issue and the most recent developments. The Minister of Rural Development acknowledged yesterday that OLAF’s presence caused a new delay. He added, however, that “We are at a very crucial point and we must all understand that on the one hand we are not asking for payments to be made immediately, but on the other hand the necessary procedures that may risk the flow of European money.”

This message is expected to convey to Members today. That is, it is very crucial to make the necessary checks, because otherwise European funds will be lost and then the problem will be much greater than that of delays now recorded. It is also expected to report that Payments will be made normally and that Patience is requiredin order not to lose resources from the total beam of funding.

Of course, MPs who carry the climate they receive in their regions at this point insist: that patience has been exhausted and that any new information for further delay in payments, even if it concerns a few days, causes a great deal of inconvenience. The bet is to start paying the aid soon, in order to give a signal to the rural population that producers will normally receive what they are entitled to.