By: C. R.
Agricultural organisations announced an escalation of pressure on political decision-makers through a protest at the end of last month due to slow progress in negotiations. According to their announcements, the protest is scheduled for March 19th. Details about the protest will be presented by agricultural organisations today.
In February, several protest rallies took place across Slovenia where farmers highlighted the state of agriculture and presented a series of demands to the ruling politicians. Their demands included the protection of agricultural land, a review of direct payments for areas with natural constraints, and a reduction in bureaucracy.
At the end of February, the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry of Slovenia (KGZS), the Farmers’ Union of Slovenia, the Cooperative Union of Slovenia, the Association of Slovenian Rural Youth, and the Association of Highland and Mountain Farmers of Slovenia announced a protest due to dissatisfaction with the progress of negotiations.
Following those negotiations with the ministries of agriculture and finance, they did not receive a concrete assurance regarding the taxation of payments for areas with natural constraints (OMD payments). One of the farmers’ demands is to exempt these payments from taxation.
To address this issue, the ministries announced the formation of an interdepartmental working group that will include representatives from agricultural organisations. The group will conduct an analysis of the methodology for determining cadastral income and OMD payments, serving as the basis for potential changes to the existing tax treatment of OMD payments.