Small and medium-sized pig farmers in Poland will soon receive state aid. This is capped at 290,000 euros per company and is intended to absorb liquidity bottlenecks. The European Commission has authorized Warsaw to finance this targeted business aid from the large corona recovery fund.
With this, Poland can help its pig industry, which has been economically affected by both the corona crisis and the African Swine Fever, on a company-specific basis with around 88 million euros. In particular, support should go to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises producing piglets.
Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has been at loggerheads with the European Union for months over the appointment of partisan government-friendly judges. Brussels had already started criminal proceedings against Warsaw for this, including the imposition of hefty fines. Last week, Warsaw started to reverse that judges' thing, after which Brussels was also able to be friendly again.
The Commission has determined that the aid must not exceed EUR 290,000 per beneficiary and must be granted within five months. The Polish government already announced an aid package for the Polish countryside at the end of last year. According to Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk, weather insurance will also be offered in the second half of February that will cover all risks, including those of severe drought.
Existing drought insurance in Poland is often very expensive due to the high risk, which made it not worth it for many farmers. In order to make favorable premiums possible, the Polish state will pay for two-thirds of the premium amount.
In Poland, risk insurance subsidized by the state has been in existence for a number of years. That premium of 87 million euros has now been increased to the equivalent of almost € 327 million.