Ministry to Present First Two Calls from Strategic Plan in Coming Days

Bratislava, 29 January (TASR) - The Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry will present the first two calls from its strategic plan in the coming days, Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) stated at this year's first meeting of the Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber (SPPK) in Bratislava, with SPPK head Andrej Gajdos, Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) director Jozef Cepko, and other guests in attendance. According to Takac, further calls for proposals will be announced gradually over the next six months so that PPA can handle their administration. The agriculture minister also declared his intention to negotiate a special support scheme for the food sector in the state budget. The communications department also reported that high on the agenda of the meeting was to assess 2025, as well as to discuss the future of the common agricultural policy (CAP) after 2028, imports from third countries, and current risks in animal production. On the subject of imports from third countries, Takac emphasised that Ukraine poses the greatest risk. "Ukraine is a thousand times bigger problem for European agriculture than Mercosur. Decisions there aren't made on the basis of economics, but ideology," he said, warning that, in his opinion, Ukraine won't be able to meet EU standards even by 2028. am