Takac: Compensation of Farms Affected by Foot-and-mouth to Begin Next Week

Bratislava, 19 June (TASR) - Compensation of farms that have been hit by foot-and-mouth disease will begin next week, Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) said following the government session on Wednesday (18 June). "We'll announce a call from the Rural Development Programme for affected entities next week so that they can apply for the money to compensate them for the purchase of new livestock or disinfection," said the minister. "We have several mechanisms to compensate - firstly, farms themselves have been insured, and there will also be a call from the Rural Development Programme. Then we have a state aid scheme, within which money has also been allocated," he added. Takac stressed that biosecurity in cattle breeding has been very low so far. "We have to change that. The situation in pig breeding is completely different," stated the minister. ko/mcs