Finally, some good news for Croatian agriculture.
Dukat announced this week that it had raised the purchase price of fresh raw milk by 10 kunas per litre, starting from the beginning of September. Due to the increase in quality, the purchase price will grow by another five lipas, so the milk producers who will sell their milk to Dukat in September and beyond will get on average about 15 kunas more per litre of their milk, reports Večernji List on September 9, 2017.
“According to its announcement of the correction of the purchase price of milk, Dukat has raised the purchase price of fresh raw milk in its purchase area by ten lipas per litre of milk delivered. Furthermore, due to the increased quality of milk produced, especially regarding the increase in the protein content of milk, the price will rise additionally by about 5 lipas per litre, which means that dairy producers in September will receive on average about 15 lipas more per litre of delivered milk,” said Dukat in its statement.
This is the fifth increase in the purchase price of fresh raw milk paid to the company's subcontractors in the last eleven months.
Dukat has also welcomed the conclusions from a recently held meeting between the farmers' representatives and Prime Minister Andrej Plenković. They discussed the possibility of providing emergency aid to the primary milk production sector.
Prime Minister Plenkovic met with representatives of dairy farmers at the end of August, and, after that meeting, Agriculture Minister Tomislav Tolušić announced that very shortly he would organise a meeting between retail trade chains and major producers of dairy products, given that farmers are upset by the low purchase price of milk.
At the time, Minister Tolušić also announced stricter controls of the damping price practices, as well as an initiative to support the livestock and dairy sector through the Rural Development Programme. The plans call for funding of the purchase of live animals and financing of the construction of mini dairies, for which a special competition will be announced. It should be published by the end of the year, and it is expected that it will fund the construction of between 10 and 15 mini dairies.
Translated from Večernji List.
