The three axes of the Rural Development Program

Particularly satisfactory were the results recorded by the Rural Development Program (RDP) 2014-2020 as recorded at the end of 2021, with the effort made to accelerate and improve its key implementation indicators and in fact during a very difficult economic and social situation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As the Minister of Rural Development and Food, Spilios Livanos, stated to the Athenian-Macedonian News Agency (AMNA), “the Rural Development Program with its significant resources and its multidimensional character is the main financial instrument we have at the Ministry of Regional Development to support our development in a particularly difficult economic and social situation due to the pandemic “.

According to him, “with its excellent performance, the systematic, methodical and intensive effort made by all those involved in its implementation, political leadership, general secretariat of Union Resources and Infrastructure, services of the ministry and the regions, managing authorities and OPEKEPE, is confirmed once again, proving our firm commitment to the goals we have set from the first moment for the productive reconstruction of Greek agriculture through the promotion of the necessary reforms, the encouragement of investments and the improvement of competitiveness and sustainability.”

On his part, the Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Food, George Stylios, pointed out to AMNA that “our main priority at the Ministry of Rural Development and Food is to complete the financial programs within the schedules. With simple and fast procedures. “Our goal is for Greek producers and entrepreneurs in the primary and secondary sectors to receive funding in a timely and transparent manner,” he said. main axes: in the development model of Greek agriculture, in the digital transformation and in the protection of the environment “.

The inclusion of projects in the RDP in 2021 is over 117%

Characteristic is the progress made for the implementation of the RDP as the inclusions of projects exceeded 117% and the legal commitments 106% of its total resources, in terms of public expenditure, with all the new calls for measures and actions of the RDP within the year to reach 900 million.

The absorption of the resources of the Rural Development Program was also high, which reached 77%, before the integration of the additional resources of the transitional period 2021-22, with annual public expenditure payments of the order of 735 million euros, a performance that is included among the best over time and of course among the highest in relation to the overall progress of the implementation of the NSRF Operational Programs.

Particularly important, in achieving the payment target, was the contribution of the Improvement Plan investment measure, in which the highest payments of any other year and program period were made, reaching 168 million euros.

As stressed by ministry officials to AMNA “with these performances, the RDP exceeded the target of the NSRF for the year 2021, contributing one of the largest amounts of payments to the Public Investment Program and consequently the inflow of community funds into the country.”

Finally, they added, “it also exceeded the obligations of the n + 3 rule, the payment target set by the EU for the year 2021, while a significant percentage of the payment target for the year 2022 has been met”.