KDH: Extension of PPA Accreditation Won't Resolve Problems of Farmers

Bratislava, October 14 (TASR) - Extending the accreditation of the Agricultural Payment Agency (PPA) falls far short of resolving the major problems faced by Slovak farmers, Christian Democratic Movement (KDH) MP Marian Cuacik opined on Monday in reaction to last week's announcement that accreditation for PPA was being extended until mid-October 2027. "We'd be more pleased if we couldn't see the problems that have accompanied PPA's activities over the past year, namely personnel changes in the agency's management and in particular in the post of general director, the difficult process of paying direct payments to farmers and the lack of funds drawn from both the old and the new programme period," said Caucik. Agriculture Minister Richard Takac (Smer-SD) has repeatedly blamed the previous government for the current state of affairs. According to Caucik, however, this is mainly a problem caused by the Smer-led government in 2016-20, when it failed to start drawing funds and didn't launch the necessary calls. Caucik noted that between 2020 and 2023 the government first of all to had restore the EU's trust in the management system of PPA after several corruption cases and to regain PPA's accreditation, which was achieved. However, according to the MP, trust has not been fully restored to this day. zel/df