Summary of newsmakers of the previous days – 25.4.2006

EU Ministers consecrated to aid to poultry farmers

The EU Ministers of Agriculture approved today an aid to European poultry farmers who fight with fall of sale and prices of poultry and eggs due to fears of consumers of bird flu. However, a concrete help should result from suggestions of member states. If the European Commission and a relevant EU committee approve the national measures, the common treasury should cover a half of costs. According to the Czech Minister of Agriculture, Jan Mládek, this step should resolve a problem of Czech breeders with cheap imports from countries which were afflicted more than the CR with the fall of demand. “There is an agreement on measures at European level financed half-and-half from the national budget and from the EU”, he said to journalists.

Price of bread and pastry will raise due to oil

Increase in prices of oil products will cause an increase in prices of bread and pastry. The raise in prices already in the first half of year was admitted by a spokesman of the biggest Czech producer Pekárny Delta, Jaroslav Pomp. “ Prices can no longer be kept at the present level. In comparison with the last year cost for gas has raised by 31 percent and also cost for packing, which are now produced from oil products, grow in tens of percents. Moreover, neither an adjustment of prices of our contract transporters is not excluded”, Pomp explained. Still it is not certain, how much the prices will grow exactly. “It is still a subject of negotiations with chains”, he explained.

Import of illegal wood flourishs

The Czech Republic is the third worst country in Europe in a fighting with an import of illegally cut wood. It is asserted by the world ecological organization WWT. It has evaluated in total about twenty three countries. From it twenty two are the EU states, the only non-member country of the EU included in the survey was Switzerland. The best results were found out in the Great Britain, The Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia and Belgium. At the tail Portugal, the Czech Republic, Poland and Ireland ended. “The European Union is the main consumer of illegally cut wood from all the world, however, the EU government fail to set up sufficient requirements for a legal and sustainable origin of trees and products from wood”, says Beatrix Richards, an WWF expert at forestry.

More expensive oil can increase cost of farmers as much as by milliard this year

The more expensive oil could increase cost of farmers roughly by 500 million to a milliard crowns. The chairman of the Agricultural Association, Miroslav Jirovský, estimated it and added that it will also depend on a next development. According to Jirovský agriculture consumes 500 million odd of oil yearly, so an average yearly raise in price by a crown per litter means growth of expenditure of farmers for fuels by about a half milliard. Also the president of Agrarian Chamber, Jan Veleba, estimated that more expensive oil should manifest itself in costs of farmers by as much as a milliard. Veleba thinks that the prices have not reached yet the upper limit; a cost problem of agriculture can arise.