At the MADR headquarters, representative processors from the food processing sector had a working meeting with the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Florin-Ionuț BARBU.

In the opening remarks, the minister presented his decision to establish working groups where meetings will take place between association representatives and MADR technical staff to streamline activities.

Additionally, the minister presented, as in previous meetings, the MADR budget and forms of support for the year 2024, with a focus on the program dedicated to the food industry, INVESTALIM, legislative changes in each branch, the formation of working groups at the MADR level with bi-weekly meetings, etc.

The minister also presented the allocation of nearly 600 million euros for energy independence, expressing the desire for these funds to be accessed by the industry in Romania: "We will continue to finance the food industry because we want to produce Romanian products here, in our country," emphasized Minister Florin Barbu.

Regarding the Investalim Program, Minister Barbu congratulated those who accessed funds in the first open session. It is worth noting that the session initially took place from October 27 to November 27, and later, MADR extended the session by an additional 30 days.

In total, during this first call, 49 projects were submitted, and the value of investments, including co-financing, exceeded 1 billion euros.

Representatives of the bakery sector requested, for the upcoming session of the Investalim Program, that funds be distributed separately, as the value of investment projects in the sector is not as high (a minimum of 500,000 EUR, as was the condition for the first session).

The representative of the dairy industry called for a possible optimization of the program for schools to reduce production costs, to increase the demand for milk from farmers. To assist the entire supply chain, solutions need to be found for the subsidy of the fuel excise tax used for milk collection or transport from the farm gate to factories, the subsidization of analysis certificates, etc.

Participants appreciated the Minister Florin Barbu's openness to dialogue and the willingness of the technical teams within the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.