There was no shortage of information from the meeting of the ministers of agriculture of Poland and Ukraine, which took place on March 28 this year. in Warsaw. Why? When will the next arrangements be made? Who will lead the agricultural protest in Poland after what happened to Jasionka? Can the young trust the old? How should the grain subsidy system, which is the most controversial issue, be constructed? The number of questions increases every day. Władysław Serafin, president of the Agricultural Circles, answers them.
- – I was not at the table during the last talks on trade with Ukraine – says Władysław Serafin, president of the Agricultural Circles, referring to the meeting of the Polish and Ukrainian sides that took place on March 28 this year. None of the trade union heads were invited to these talks, adds the president of the Circles.
- What happened in Jasionka during the European Agricultural Forum? Shame, betrayal – farmers said about what happened there. An agreement was reached or only arrangements were signed. The reservations of many farmers who have been protesting on the roads for months concerned the lack of representativeness of the entire agricultural community during this forum. Władysław Serafin explains this event.
- – I do not take money from Tusk, and the Chambers of Agriculture are responsible for the crisis in agriculture – he says.
- – What next with agricultural arrangements and protests? The president of the Agricultural Circles and the chairman of RI Solidarność represent farmers statutorily and constitutionally, our mandate is unquestionable – he declares.
- The scandal is about subsidies. Should they be paid per tonne or per hectare? The Prime Minister has a clear position on this matter.
Władysław Serafin needs no introduction. He realizes that the representatives of the protesting committees have not been satisfied and wants to unite the farmers. Will young farmers be invited to the table for talks?
– Let’s not accuse each other, I say to farmers, because we all lose from it. If you shout that Serafin is too old and Obszański does not have a mandate, know that the authorities are just waiting for this, they are happy and laughing at the divisions – he says. – A 25-year-old has never sat on the council of elders – he adds.
Not much information was released after the meeting of the governments of Poland and Ukraine regarding further agri-food trade between the two countries. “We weren’t there,” he admits.
Why are subsidies per tonne and not per hectare? This is the biggest argument today. The Prime Minister said clearly: you must prepare the rules for subsidies on the grain market for farmers so that they do not pay for even a ton of Ukrainian grain. He asked for a subsidy system to be established.
Serafin blames the Chambers of Agriculture for the crisis in Poland. He asks how it is possible that the Chambers, which have huge amounts of money for their activities, do not have at least one expert opinion that they could present to farmers and the government.
He is still missing. Why? Would landlords collect subsidies? Moreover, as the president of the Agricultural Circles argues, the subsidies cannot be calculated because there is a mess in the ARiMR system. At the tip of a finger, either the prime minister or the minister should have data on which farmer sold grain in the fall and which farmer still has it in stock.
In Serafin’s opinion, all protests should continue until the agricultural issues are resolved. – If not today, we will never achieve the negotiating position we have achieved – he argues.
– We will sign a cooperation agreement between all agricultural trade unions that declare such willingness to cooperate. We also want to invite representatives of protest groups to one table. We convene on April 5 this year. nationwide meeting in Warsaw – he concludes.
The entire interview with the president of the Agricultural Circles can be viewed below.
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