Summary of newsmakers of the previous day – 8.11. 2006

ZS: Farmers will finish this year with profit in spite of production fall

Despite this year’s historically lowest production, obviously Czech farmers will finish yearly farming again with a profit. The chairman of Agricultural Union CR Miroslav Jirovský said it to CTK at a union meeting in Větrný Jeníkov. He reported that first of all dotations, higher by five percent in comparison with the last year, will contribute to positive result. According to estimation of the Union firms’ incomes in the country will decrease approximately by one milliard crowns. Agricultural enterprises will create a profit the third year. However, their results can differ substantially. “Who had harvested cereals before rains, he/she sales much better”, Jirovský explained. On the contrary somewhere the crop was mostly deteriorated – cereals germinated in spikes and mould in rainy August. “However, generally we estimate that we will stay in profit”, Jirovský reported. According to the Union farmers earned about 4,5 milliard crowns last year. A year before it still was more by 4,1 milliard crowns.

V4 wants common position to reform of EU agricultural policy

Countries of Visegrad four (V4) wants to harmonize positions in negotiations on further direction of the common agricultural policy of the European Union (CAP) after 2013. A proposal so that the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovenia and Hungary came to an agreement on a common position to the CAP reform was introduced to her counterparts by Czech Ministress of Agriculture Milena Vicenová at a meeting which took place on Monday in Slovakian Beladice. “Other CAP development will be one of the main questions which will be solved during Czech presidency in the European Union. I am glad that countries of Visegrad four accepted the offer to look for points of concurrence which we will promote together”, the ministress said. From January next year an expert group begins to work on creation of common position. “Our point is that new and old member states have really the same station”, Milena Vicenová added.

SZIF budget should increase to 40 mld.

The budget of State Agricultural Intervention Fund which controls most of agrarian supports should increase roughly by 14 percents to 40,2 milliard crowns next year. Bigger volume of the budget which will be negotiated by the government on Wednesday is given especially by the growth of farmers’ direct payments and also by a higher sum for rural development which will flow from a new European agricultural fund for rural development. Táňa Králová, the spokeswoman of Ministry of Agriculture said it. In comparison with this year’s 33,4 milliard crowns next year 38,7 milliard crowns should go from the fund budget first of all on support of agriculture but also on some measure for food producers. Administration expenditures of SZIF then should be 1,5 milliard crowns. This year it was 1,9 milliard.

Municipalities maybe will get back their property

Municipalities maybe will get back pieces of land which they lost due to expropriation and nationalization to the 31st of December 1949. It is dealt mainly with forests and agricultural land on which organization of former Federal Ministry of Defense. Yesterday representatives set a senate proposal in next reading. It would return the remaining property, to which restitutions did not refer for the present, to municipalities. The return should concern pieces of land out of military territories. They can be only in property of the state. Municipalities could obtain them only if the military territories were disestablished or if their area were reduced.

Source: Agris, 09.11.2006