Greek Farmers Fail to Agree with PM Mitsotakis in Meeting

Adelegation of 15 Greek farmers representing various regions in Greece failed to reach a compromise with Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis who received them on Tuesday at the Maximos Mansions to end road blockades across the country.

Exiting the PM’s Office, one of the representatives of the farmers’ coordinating committee that met with the PM, Rizos Maroudas took a polemic stance expressing the view that the farmers should continue their mobilizations calling for more reinforcements at the road blockades across the country as he pointed out that their demands had not been met in their entirety.

A second member of the farmer’s representatives who attended the meeting, however, took a more constructive view dubbing the exchange with the PM “constructive and largely substantive”, emphasizing that “the farmers themselves will provide the answers.”

The farmers’ delegation will now convey their views and the results of the meeting with the PM to their members in an assembly in Thessaly, central Greece, near the city of Larissa later today to decide their next actions. The main point of contention between the government and the farmers is heating oil and the advance payment of the Special Consumption Tax on agricultural diesel.

During the meeting, Kyriakos Mitsotakis reportedly announced to the farmers that 40 million euros would be provided by the end of March and the remaining 42 million euros in due course.

Regarding agricultural electricity, the Prime Minister promised “cheaper electricity for the next 2+8 years,” while sources from Maximos Mansion pointed out that “the initiative of substance and responsibility that ensures very low prices for agricultural electricity is estimated to set the kW at under 10 cents for farmers participating in cooperative schemes or are consistent, and under 11 cents for those with arrears, simultaneously resolving their debts. For the next 8 years, for one-third of consumption, the estimated price will be uniform at 9 cents.”

Last week the farmers sent a document with a list of detailed demands, including tax-free diesel fuel and subsidies on animal fodder, among other things.