Farmers, Hit By Russia Sanctions, Say EU Aid Package Not Enough
By RFE/RL
The European Commission has offered a 500 million euro relief package that farmers in the bloc say does little to address slumping prices due to the loss of exports to Russia.
The aid was announced on September 7 as nearly 5,000 farmers driving more than 1,000 tractors traveled to Brussels to protest, prompting an emergency meeting of the EU's Agriculture Council.
Protesters driving tractors snagged traffic for hundreds of kilometers outside the Belgian capital, Belga news agency reported.
Demonstrators threw bottles and paving stones, leading to clashes with police, who used tear gas and water cannons to disperse them and put out burning bales of hay, the agency said.
Four police officers and at least two demonstrators were reported injured, but no arrests were made, the agency said.
European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen called the 500 million euro package a "robust and decisive response" to farmers' demands, but farming groups continued to complain that it was not enough to make up for the sharp impact of economic sanctions on farm income.
Albert Jan Maat, president of farmers group Copa, said Russia was a top EU market. Sanctions imposed as a result of Russian aggressions in Ukraine and Russia's retaliatory food ban have led to the loss of about 5.5 billion euros of agri-food exports, the group estimated.
"This situation is not our fault, yet it is our sector that is being hit the most. EU farmers are paying the price for international politics," Maat said.
Farmers say they face a worsening cash-flow crisis. The situation is said to be especially dire in the dairy, pork, beef, fruit, and vegetable sectors.
"We are now in early September, bills have not been paid for the summer, and a lot of milk producers will not be able to see their way through the winter unless cash is put on the table immediately," said Mansel Raymond, dairy chairman at Copa.
Milk prices paid to EU farmers are down 20 percent from last year at 30 cents a liter on average. In the Baltic states, which have been worst hit by Russian sanctions, prices are even lower at around 20 cents.
The European Commission said its aid package was aimed at helping farmers with cash-flow difficulties, stabilizing markets, and improving the functioning of the supply chain.
The plan allows member states to advance some payments to farmers. The commission said it was working closely with the European Investment Bank to design financial instruments where repayments were linked to commodity prices.
The commission said there would be "particular regard to those member states which have been most affected by market developments."
The EU executive refused to raise the intervention price for dairy products, however, a move sought by farming groups and supported by France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
The EU had already implemented a series of support measures to help farmers cope with the Russian food ban, such as public purchases of agriculture goods and funds to help cover the costs of putting products into storage for later sales.
With reporting by Reuters, dpa, and Belga news agency
Moscow Warns Talks Unlikely To Avert Trade Embargo Against Ukraine
Russia has warned that there's only a slim chance of averting a trade embargo against Ukraine when Kyiv's free-trade pact with the European Union takes effect in January.
Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev said he hasn't entirely given up hope of reaching a deal that would satisfy Moscow's objections to the trade pact and avert sanctions through three-way talks between Russia, the EU, and Ukraine.
He said after a day of meetings in Brussels that the talks had been "positive" though "difficult," and "there is a chance of [success], although I wouldn't say it's very great."
Ulyukayev said Russia was considering putting the same kind of sanctions on Ukraine that it has applied to the EU.
Moscow has banned the import of food from the EU in retaliation for EU sanctions imposed over Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
Ulyukayev said Russia expects it could minimize the damage to its own economy from such a food embargo to about 100 billion rubles ($1.4 billion) a year.
Talks over a possible compromise are expected to continue in November.
Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
Eastern Ukrainian Rebel Leader Reportedly Detained
A leader of Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has reportedly been detained by fellow rebels as he returned to the Donetsk region from Russia.
A separatist official said Andrei Purgin -- who was the self-styled speaker of the self-proclaimed parliament of the Donetsk People's Republic -- was reportedly detained near the rebel-held city of Donetsk on September 4, the same day he was allegedly dismissed as head of parliament.
Ellada Shaftner, a member of the rebel parliament, was traveling with Purgin when he and his wife were detained by officials.
Shaftner said she was told by the men who stopped their car that the couple was under arrest.
A separatist official told Reuters that Purgin and his wife were being interrogated.
But Denis Pushilin, another rebel leader, denied that Purgin was under arrest.
"As far as I am informed, [Purgin] feels all right, he has not been arrested," Pushilin said on September 7.
Top rebel leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko declined to comment on the Purgin report.
Based on reporting by Reuters, TASS, and Interfax
Russia Steps Up Pressure On Ukraine Over Debt
Russia has threatened to challenge an International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout loan with Ukraine if Kyiv doesn’t pay back its $3 billion bond due in December.
"We will turn to the relevant judicial bodies” if Ukraine fails to make the payment, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in Moscow on September 7. "Also, we are members of the IMF and we will question the validity of the IMF program to Ukraine."
A creditor group that owns half of Ukraine’s sovereign bonds agreed last month to accept new terms that include a 20 percent principal writedown and a four-year maturity extension.
Other bondholders such as Russia are to vote on the agreement this month.
The restructuring is part of a $17.5 billion IMF loan aimed at easing pressure on Ukraine’s economy, which is expected to shrink nearly 10 percent this year due its war in the east and the loss of coal mining and steel factories in areas held by Russian-backed separatists.
Based on reporting by Bloomberg.com and Interfax
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