“We did not ate them all together and especially we who produce daily food and agricultural products,” the National Union said today (30.6.2025). Agricultural cooperatives (ETHEAS) referring to the scandal of subsidy OPEKEPE.
Specifically, agricultural cooperatives said in their statement: “This time who ate them (and not only some supposed producers) will bring them back, we will insist and come back”, adding that “the subsidies of 2025 (IAS 2025) have been in the past year. They have not been secured and we will come back. “
It is noted that the prosecution’s proposal is expected today by the Athens Court of Appeal in the parliamentary investigation of the OPEKEPE case. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is in order to move on how the government will move.
According to ETHEAS, the significant positive productive outcome of the country’s farmers and cooperatives from the scandal of recent days should not be overshadowed.
Hundreds of thousands of productive farmers and farmers create and contribute to the country’s economy, a contribution from the Greek countryside, with the following indicative indicators:
- Exports of agri -food products: Despite the crisis, Greek farmers and farmers have managed to provide food and other exceptional quality agricultural products by creating a measurable export imprint of over 8.5 billion. euro. From 2022 onwards, the Agricultural Balance has become positive in our country and we are proud with our members for our contribution to it.
- Olive oil and edible olives: Our country is pioneering in the quality of olive oil (extra virgin) and the edible olives worldwide. We are proud of our olive growers.
- Kiwi: Our country is in the 2nd line of production volume worldwide of this international product with excellent quality. We are proud of our kiwi growers.
- Industrial Peach: Our country has won 1st place worldwide with high quality processed peaches. We are proud that our cultivators give this result.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Producers of several fruits and vegetables give the raw material to standardization and exports, resulting in more than 2 billion exports. We are proud of this conquest by our growers.
- Hard wheat: Quality Greek hard wheat is the basis for many pasta industries in our country and abroad. We are proud of how our producers cooperate with industry.
- Greek slice of pop: Thanks to the efforts of our farmers who continue to produce excellent quality sheep and goat milk, the Greek slice of pop is a Greek excellent food with an export footprint of € 850 million. We are proud of these breeders.
This positive productive footprint is not free of problems, which do not have the attention of the state, according to ETHEA. For this reason, the Union requested on 13 May 2025, by letter to the Prime Minister and the Vice -President of the Government, the “participation of cooperatives and farmers in the development distribution of the budgetary surplus to solve production problems” in order to solve the main problems that are:
- High production costs (energy, agricultural inputs, supplies, etc.).
- The difficulty of finding funds for investment with affordable interest rates.
- The difficulty of covering adequate funding of allowances, for the often repetitive and extensive damage to the climate crisis.
“These are our productive strategic goals to continue and do not offset this image in any way with its unprecedented or earlier subsidy problems,” ETHEAS said in its announcement today.