"High agricultural prices are being driven by imports" - Braçe: Farmers should be supported per liter, or kg. Costs have increased
The high prices of fruits and vegetables on the market are being driven by imports. This was stated by the socialist MP Erion Braçe, during the interpellation in the Parliament with the Minister of Agriculture Andis Salla, where he emphasized that due to the increase in costs and the price of oil, the situation will worsen. Braçe also emphasized that the abolition of the oil scheme in this situation is worrying and that the VAT reimbursement scheme is not appropriate for farmers. According to him, the farmer should be supported per liter of product or kilogram.
Erion Braçe, SP MP:
"Prices are rising and are driven by imports. INSTAT data show that agricultural exports are falling. In January and February. The floods in December, January and February and the increase in import prices will continue this blow and from livestock we are moving to vegetables and fruits. Any territorial effort with this fiscal regime that we have will fail/. Formalization is not favored but finalizes the reduction of the price of the farmer's product and does not compensate for anything. The Value Added Tax scheme does not favor it. Give lek per liter of production and set a standard. Give lek per kg. And you have removed free oil, this is not done when the price is at its peak. 17 thousand lek of plowing has gone. From February 28 to March 31, only 3 thousand tons of chemical fertilizers have entered. The rest came before the war, how did the prices double immediately. How is it possible that he in Kavaja says I sold at the stock exchange price? Which stock exchange did you buy? Put a stop to the abuses, otherwise the farmers "They won't be able to breathe."
The socialist MP also touched on the issue of milk with aflatoxin among farmers, emphasizing that it was all a campaign to lower the price of milk, while only 8 samples were analyzed and only two of them resulted in aflatoxins.
"Milk imported during 2024 is 11.5 million liters, the average price was 55.8 lek per liter with 20% VAT, the result in the end is +8.2 lek, the profit from the factory. For 2025, the import reached 7.9 million liters, the price was 61.3 lek per liter, let's calculate the VAT, the result of the factories is 8.3 lek per liter profit. Getting milk imported at a higher price than domestic milk, results in profit. While farmers' milk was 55 lek and the companies came out with a loss of 0.8 lek per liter. The reduction in the price of milk to the livestock was forced by the financial result at the expense of the farmer who today sells milk for only 47 lek per liter. The price was reduced to the farmer by 14.5 lek. The factory is profitable whether it receives milk imported or domestically due to the rules that we we decided. The VAT law shook all the dairies, as they do not wait for VAT invoices to receive 10%. We have forced farmers to go only to the factories and nowhere else and we have made the factories set the price up to 14.5 lek. This was the reason for the aflatoxin milk campaign, to lower the price. I am terribly disappointed why you do not listen. Why do not you sit down and do the calculations.
Andis Salla, Minister of Agriculture:
" As far as milk is concerned, imports cannot and should not become a mechanism for market distortion. The price must be linked to measurable parameters, labeling and quantity delivered. The Ministry should approach more control, formalization of production. We have set up a group for labeling and traceability of products."
Last month, there was a clash between farmers and milk processing companies, because their milk was not purchased on the grounds that it contained aflatoxin.
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