The EU officials said Monday they were setting aside 125 million euros to compensate producers for not selling a range of perishable items, harvesting them before they ripen or leaving them to rot.
The products include apples, pears, grapes, kiwi, carrot, mushrooms, cabbage, cauliflower, table grapes, sweet peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers.
It is peak time for harvesting now. So taking into account the fact that the farmers’ storage capacity is very limited and they have to promptly find alternative sales markets, the situation is critical for many growers.
The funds allocated by the EU will be used for buying the products in the list as well as for compensations for early harvesting or failure to sell the crop. Fruit and vegetables will be given away after being purchased.
The emergency assistance will run until November and cover both individual farmers and members of industry groups or associations.
The EU officials fail to provide accurate figures, but the European Union may lose up to 12 billion euros because of Russia’s ban. Vygaudas Usackas, the EU ambassador to Russia, confirmed this information.
“We are yet to analyze in detail what goods fall under sanctions, but it may reach up to 12 billion euro. Food and goods amount to 10 percent of what we export to Russia," he said.
For context, Russia hit back at the latest round of Western sanctions with its own year-long ban on imports of food from Europe, the U.S., Australia, Canada and Norway.
