Clarification on what applies to the amount of aid announced by ELGA for the farmers affected by the fires of 2023 gives the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, "the final amount of aid - per category of damage - will be determined, as always, taking into account the current institutional framework for State aid, on the basis of ELGA's recommendations, as stated in Government Gazette 1963/B'/19-04-2022 and applied to the 2021 and 2022 fires", while "the aid rates proposed by ELGA are exactly the same as those for fires in previous years, without any increases".

In particular, this institutional framework - that of State Aid - was adapted to cover the weaknesses of the State Financial Assistance Programme, by setting up procedures for the support of perennial tree crops from the Regular Budget, with a level of support more than twice as high, but at times less than the corresponding level of State Financial Assistance.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry - The cases of damaged olive trees

For example, "the final aid foreseen for cases of totally destroyed olive trees in previous fires (from 2021 onwards) did not exceed 100 euros per tree, with a downward escalation for cases where the destruction of the olive tree was not total. And, in fact, an advance payment of 50% of this aid has been provided for, so that farmers can receive a significant amount of aid as soon as possible, while the payment of the next amount will also be linked to rehabilitation. A similar provision has been made for other crops".

Thus, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, in the coming days and in application of the current institutional framework -as is the case in every case- the stakeholders, at a meeting of the Governmental Committee on State Aid will take the relevant decisions, withoutbut, however, these deviate from the given support arrangements, as they have been implemented so far.