Rural Affairs Ministry creates new €2.8 million support measure
The Ministry of Rural Affairs is adding a new support measure with a budget of €2.84 million to the list of measures available under Estonia's Rural Development Plan.
The extraordinary temporary grant is meant for agricultural producers and small and medium-sized businesses engaged in the processing and sale of agricultural products, spokespeople for the Ministry of Rural Affairs said on Friday.
"The loss of opportunities to sell one'sproducts due to the COVID-19 crisis both in Estonia and on export markets has had an impact on Estonian agricultural producers and the food industry," Minister of Rural Affairs Arvo Aller said in a press release.
The minister described the restoration of sales channels on foreign markets and the finding of new business contacts as crucial for businesses to exit the crisis as quickly as possible.
The maximum amount that businesses engaged in the processing and sale of agricultural products are eligible for under the new measure is €25,000. The €2.84 million to be made available under the measure is the unspent amount of the investment support budget.
The call for proposals is to take place this year.
Deputy Secretary General for Agricultural and Rural Life Policies Marko Gorban said that the Ministry of Rural Affairs is also set to ease conditions in the application for the young agricultural producer business commencement support measure, the small agricultural producer development support measure as well as the support measure for restoring the potential of agricultural production.
This Thursday, the 2019 monitoring report of the Rural Development Plan was presented and approved by the monitoring committee.
According to the report, as of the end of 2019, all development plan measures had been implemented. By May 31, support had been assigned in the amount of €832.3 million and payouts made in the amount of €671.5 million under the development plan's budget of €992.5 million.
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Editor: Aili Vahtla