Farmers meet with the President

On Wednesday, June 10, representatives of Latvian farmers' organizations met with President Egils Levits to provide insight into the agricultural sector in Latvia, as well as to discuss the European Union's (EU) multiannual budget 2021-2027 and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

President of Latvia Egils Levits: "Agriculture is an important sector of the Latvian economy. I believe that Latvian representatives should strive to ensure that direct payments to Latvian farmers approach the average level of the European Union as quickly as possible."

Maira Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre, Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of the Association "Farmers' Council": “We provided the President of the State with a brief overview of the current situation in agriculture, and we elaborated on the issue affecting the CAP and the EU “Green Deal”, emphasizing the fact that Latvian agriculture is already relatively “green”. During the conversation, we also emphasized the equalization of direct payments, reminding that all these years Latvia has received the smallest payments from all EU member states, which significantly affects Latvia’s competitiveness in the common EU market. Therefore, we called on the President of the State to emphasize the need for fair direct payments when meeting with leaders of other countries. At the end of the conversation, we invited the President to visit one of our farms and during Midsummer, we presented a cheese roll from ZSA member SIA “Vecsiljāņi”, as well as the ZSA book “Spēka maize” (Bread of Strength), so that the President would have the opportunity to get acquainted with the stories of strong families of Latvian farmers.”

Edgars Treibergs, Chairman of the Cooperation Council of Farmers' Organizations: "It is important to promote understanding of the problems faced by farmers in certain agricultural sectors – dairy, fruit, berry and vegetable growers. We emphasized to the President how important it is now to strengthen and develop our rural environment, talking about the competitiveness of Latvian farmers, when the vote on the approval of the next EU multiannual budget will take place."

Indulis Jansons, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Association of Agricultural Cooperatives (LLKA): "We must all work together to achieve equal direct payments for Latvian farmers, as well as provide targeted support to cooperatives in all sectors, so that the products produced by local farmers are available in sufficient quantities in Latvian sales networks every day. At the same time, Latvian agriculture in all sectors must be export-oriented and competitive not only in European, but also in world markets."

LLKA board member Māra Rudzāte: "During the discussion, we also highlighted the issue of guest workers, who are very necessary at this moment for harvesting the grown crop. We highlighted that most EU countries have already allowed the import and employment of guest workers, but this is still not allowed in Latvia, placing our farmers in unequal competitive conditions with other EU countries. Without resolving this issue, Latvian farmers will not be able to pick their own berries, fruits and vegetables, so residents will have to leave their money for these products to farmers in other countries."

In the talks with the President, farmers' organizations were represented by Maira Dzelzkalēja-Burmistre, Deputy Chairwoman of the Board of the Association "Farmers' Saeima" (ZSA), Mārtiņš Trons, Member of the Board of the ZSA, Edgars Treibergs, Chairman of the Cooperation Council of Farmers' Organizations (LOSP), Guntis Gūtmanis, Member of the Board of the LOSP, Indulis Jansons, Chairman of the Board of the Latvian Association of Agricultural Cooperatives (LLKA), and Māra Rudzāte, Member of the Board of the LLKA.