Shaken Vilnius: farmers seek truth and justice (VIDEO)

Dozens of farmers gave the authorities a real shake-up on Monday when they arrived in Vilnius to try to find out from the National Paying Agency (NPA) why they have to accept a postponement of the financing of their projects for the next year, when the contracts clearly state that the NPA has to pay them by 31 December 2025.

„Agrobitė“ recalls that the scandal broke out after the Ministry of Agriculture, headed by Andrius Palionis, instructed the NMA to pay for the farmers' projects only next year, from the funds of the Strategic Plan of Agricultural and Rural Development of Lithuania for 2023-2027.

All of this puts farmers at risk of serious financial and reputational losses, ranging from late payment penalties, liquidated damages against construction contractors and machinery suppliers, to the deterioration of farmers' credit histories with financial institutions.

In addition, it would significantly worsen farmers' access to EU support in the future, when the performance of farms will be assessed in the evaluation of their applications.

It appears that the situation with the unallocated €20.5 million may be even deeper, as the authorities are talking about both the different deficits and the number of farmers they are referring to. For example, until recently the authorities were talking about a list of 163 farmers who were supposedly short of the €20.5 million, but the NMA director, Fortunatas Dirginčius, was talking about a list of 380 farmers who were short of the money.

Some farmers in a closed „Facebook“ group say they have not yet received a call or notification about when funds will be made available for their completed projects. Some farmers believe that they were only contacted by the NMA after a meeting at the NMA headquarters on Monday, which was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture.

According to the latest reports, farmers have already been invited to participate in a remote meeting of the Parliament's Committee on Rural Affairs on 19 November.

Watch all the coverage from the farmers' meeting in Vilnius in this „Agrobite play“ video, and be sure to subscribe to our free channel to support our work. It's the best way to say thank you.