Thu, 11 Dec, 2014 02:41:01 AM FTimes - STT Report, Dec. 11  The minister of Agriculture and Forestry Petteri Orpo at a press conference in Helsinki on Wednesday welcomes the EU compensation in milk sector. Photo Lehtikuva. Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Petteri Orpo has welcomed the EU Commission’s decision to include Finland among the countries who will receive dairy subsidies.
Dairy producers in the country will receive 10.7 million euros to compensate for loses in the aftermath of Russian counter-sanctions which resulted in a ban on importing food and dairy products from Western countries.
The compensation package will not cover all the losses, but nonetheless the matter is a major question of principle for Finland, said Orpo.
According to the minister, the decision taken on Monday as well as the previous decision to compensate Baltic countries is historic.
In a statement, Orpo said never before has the EU budget paid for an extra support directly to certain producers within the EU member states.
Similarly, the Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners-MTK termed the gesture from EU a positive direction.
However, in a statement, MTK said the situation in the country’s dairy sector is becoming more difficult by the day following the sanctions. The problems are not only limited to milk production, added the union.
Milk producer Valio's logistics center in Riihimäki closed down on August 7 following counter sanctions imposed by Russia. File Photo Lehtikuva. The sum which the dairy sector will receive is roughly equivalent to a month’s loss following the Russian counter-sanctions.
Last month a 28-million-euro aid package was granted to Baltic countries to cover for their losses.
The EU Commission said Finland and the Baltic states are entitled to the aid package as they have been hit hard by the embargo.
A spokesperson for Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan told the news agency STT that Finland’s government can decide the timeframe when it will pay the subsidies.
The aid package will be paid in accordance to how many litres of milk are produced.
However, it is still unclear how much a producer will receive per litre of the loss.
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