“Checks are now being carried out by both the new OPECEPE administration and the AADE”
‘OLAF since yesterday is at the OPECEPE and obviously Continues all investigations already started by the European Public Prosecutor’s Officein an attempt to clarify exactly what has happened in the past, “said the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Costas Tsiaras.
Speaking on ANT1’s “Good Morning Greece” show, he pointed out that “There may be issues that the organization must identify and highlight.”
As he noted, ‘OLAF’s presence temporarily causes a difficulty in handling payments. There is service readiness to start payments. The necessary checks have been done and we are on the spot to press the button to start payments for old organic, agriculture and beekeeping, “he said.
“OLAF people who are in OPEKEPE should be completed,” the Minister of Rural Development and Food added.
“Checks are now being carried out by both the new OPECEPE administration and the AADE”
Responding to questions about the delays, the minister explained that “checks are now being carried out by both the new OPEKEP administration and the AADE. The fact that there was a delay in the start of payments is due to the need to incorporate complete checks before each payment. In the past, they only became sampling -now they become real, ”he said.
Costas Tsiaras revealed that “from the checks done to the ministry for the new biological program, the findings were” extreme “. “For organic livestock farming and organic beekeeping, more than 50% of controlled samples were found out of program“, He said, adding that” this is added to the suspension of several certificates of operating authorities. ” He also pointed out that “there are also voluntary producer departures from biological programs, due to the stricter controls and compliance now required”.
“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,” he said.
The Minister confirmed that “Payments of old biologicals are ready to make.”while “basic aid will be given in November”.
“To deal with the smallpox needs serious cooperation”
Referring to the issue of smallpox, Costas Tsiaras explained that it was “a difficult zoonosis with a period of incubation of up to six months”, stressing that “it cannot be treated like the plague, which had a much shorter incubation time. In order to deal with smallpox, there is a need for serious cooperation and responsibility by all involved“, He said, clarifying that” the ministry follows the European directive, the regions through veterinary services are applying bio -security measures, and there is also the responsibility of the farmers themselves. “
Minister announced that Adjustment is coming to suspend tax and insurance liabilities for those breeders who have lost their animalsstressing that it is “immediate and targeted relief of the affected”. At the same time, he made a special mention in the 80m -euro plant reconstruction program, the deposit of which will be made by the end of the year and in 2026 will proceed.
As he stated, “150 veterinarians and veterinary staff have already been made availablecorresponding to half of the country’s veterinarians available to strengthen controls and business needs. ” However, he emphasized that “the regions have not yet fully filled the positions offered to them.”
“In the coming days the allowances for the animals that were killed”
“In the coming days, there will be compensation for the animals that have been killed, as part of an attempt to support the affected farmers immediately,” he added.
Finally, in a question about the subsidies he receives at the Vice -Presidents of the Organization, Yiannis Kaimakakis, the minister made it clear that “it is another to receive a grant legally and another to try to deceive the system”.
“This person is a man with high scientific training and a significant presence in the free market,” he said, adding that “the members of the Board of Directors was designed to set up an instrument with different skills so that its members were complementary to each other -this was the logic of our choices.” At the same time, he recalled that the OPEKEPE Board of Directors also involved representatives of ETHEA and SEK who are entitled to subsidies as well as that in the past, in other administrations, with other governments, there were corresponding cases.