On Thursday, August 14, the Minister of Agriculture Marek Výborný announced in Seznam Zprávy news portal that his office is taking steps towards initiation proceedings for the refund of subsidiary payments provided to companies of the AGROFERT Group.
This is obviously a pre-election campaign by Minister Výborný, in which he is trying to harm our reputation. We call on minister Výborný not to involve us in his pre-election campaign and not to exceed his competence and to stop unacceptable interference in activities of the Support and Guarantee Agricultural and Forestry Fund (PGRLF) and the State Agricultural Intervention Fund. At the same time, we will also request the publication of the Thursday's (August 14) meeting minutes of the Minister with the management of the PGRLF and the SZIF.
We see no reason or legal justification for any return of subsidies provided to AGROFERT or its subsidiary companies. The courts have never dealt with direct payments for agricultural companies of AGROFERT Group. We obtain all subsidies in accordance with the laws and state aid rules of the Czech Republic and the EU.
The largest part consists of subsidies to support production, i.e. direct payments, to which every farmer, who manages agricultural land, or breed livestock in an appropriate manner, is entitled.
Despite the disadvantage mentioned above, almost 80 agricultural enterprises of the AGROFERT group manages 133 thousand hectares, of which 7 thousand hectares are in the organic regime. The AGROFERT farm companies employ more than 2.5 thousand people from mainly rural areas throughout the Czech Republic., These employees take care of 36 thousand head of cattle every day, of which 13.5 thousand are dairy cows, that produce almost 160 million litres of milk annually. Farms of the AGROFERT Group produce 32 million of poultry and almost half a million of pigs annually. Hence, they significantly contribute to the food security of the Czech Republic.
In addition, it is quite common in the EU and the Czech Republic, for companies owned by members of the government, or other representatives of the executive branch, or their family members, to receive subsidies or another form of public aid. This is also the case for members of the current Czech government.