We discussed the situation in the dairy industry during a meeting with the Prime Minister.

On Friday, July 3, representatives of the association "Farmers' Council" (ZSA) met with Prime Minister Laimdota Straujums and Minister of Agriculture Jānis Dūklavas to discuss the situation in the dairy sector, as well as the provision of additional support for partial coverage of insurance policies for farmers.

“The situation in the dairy sector is still difficult. We have turned to the Prime Minister to jointly seek help in Europe. Europe should show solidarity, as Latvian farmers are still suffering severely from the consequences of the Russian food embargo. We urgently need direct assistance for the Latvian dairy sector while it adapts to the new market conditions,” its deputy chairman Juris Cīrulis.

“In Latvia, farm animal insurance is successfully operating and crop insurance is rapidly developing. Insurance companies were ready to enter the Latvian market on the condition that there would be state support for the purchase of crop policies. The crop insurance system in Latvia has only been operating for the last 3 years. It was created so that in cases of accidents caused by natural conditions there is no need to ask for state assistance. The European Union has also adopted the practice of state co-financing of agricultural crop insurance. We are pleased that crop insurance remains increasingly in demand in Latvia, a known reason is also the damage caused by the 2014 frost, when farmers suffered losses of approximately 200 million EUR. Currently, this successfully launched program is under threat due to insufficient state co-financing,” comments ZSA Chairman Juris Lazdiņš.

According to ZSA calculations, the funding gap could be around 600,000 thousand EUR. As both the insured crop areas and the number of insured livestock increase, it is important to find additional funding. If support for partial coverage of policies is not applied, farmers may lose interest in purchasing such a service.

I am pleased that the Prime Minister said in the conversation that, together with the Minister of Agriculture, she will seek solutions for partial coverage of insurance policies for farmers.

The meeting with the Prime Minister was attended by:
ZSA Chairman Juris Lazdins;
ZSA Deputy Chairwoman Maira Dzelzkalēja;
ZSA Deputy Chairman Juris Cīrulis.