Coalition agreement bad for farmers
Estonian Farmers Union said that the new coalition agreement does not take into account the needs of farmers and the conditions in rural areas are set to worsen.
According to the Farmers Union, the new coalition government has broken the promises given during the election campaign and is not offering any solutions to improve the economic conditions for farmers and agriculture in rural areas.
“Before the election, all the political forces par the Reform Party promised to restore the agricultural subsidies, but there is no mention of any financial support in the new coalition agreement,” the union said in a statement.
The union added that the increase of excise taxes by 14 percent on diesel fuel will be especially harmful, as farmers and businesses located in the countryside are proportionally bigger users of motor transport. “The reduction of labor tax by 1 percent will not compensate the shortcome and therefore it's preposterous to talk about creating jobs or increasing investment in the countryside."
The head of the Farmers Union, Kalle Hamburg, added that the economic conditions of farmers are not great and many are already planning to quit the business. "If the new coalition government will stay in power and follows up their program in its current format, agriculture will suffer further and people living in rural areas will keep emigrating from Estonia."
Editor: S. Tambur