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Shkruar nga Pamfleti
The Minister of Agriculture, Andis Salla, has provided details about the new national scheme for 2026, which changes the way farmers are supported and removes one of the main forms of aid, tax-free oil.
The package approved by the government no longer includes this scheme, shifting support towards direct payments and VAT compensation. Salla said the changes aim to include farmers more widely in the scheme.
"The oil scheme is a support scheme, we provide direct payments. The scheme we presented today is a comprehensive scheme, the farmer becomes part of all the measures, and what is most important is the 10% of the billing that will be received by the business that will deliver the product. This is what we have offered to farmers, it is not just a specific measure that was said today, the oil measure is removed. It is not just an oil measure, it is support for the farmer, these measures that we have established are comprehensive and every farmer is part of this package," said Salla.
The changes directly affect livestock farming. The threshold for benefiting from support for cows is reduced to 5 heads, while the payment increases to 12 thousand lek per head. For sheep and goats, the requirements are also eased and the subsidy increases to 1500 lek per head.
In beekeeping, the required number of hives is halved and support reaches 2 thousand lek per hive. The scheme also includes funding for sows for the first time, with 7 thousand lek per head for herds of at least 5 heads.
Meanwhile, IPARD funds remain unclear. The Minister said that Albanian authorities must fulfill their obligations by April 9 to proceed with the request for the opening of funds.
"We were in Brussels with the team and discussed all the tasks we have. We were there on March 9th and by April 9th we must submit the requests that have been requested of us. We then await the accreditation of the IPARD package ," said Salla.
The new scheme is expected to be implemented during 2026, with changes to the way support is distributed to farmers.
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