The interest of farmers and entrepreneurs to apply for the third call of the supportive scheme IPARD 2 has been high despite the pandemic. The Director of the Agency for Agriculture and Rural Development, Frida Krifca, said that the application period was closed on January 25, and so far, they have received 369 submitted files, a higher number compared to the previous call. Now, the work will begin to process the files and provide financial support for the sectors of farms, vineyards, and meat and dairy products.
“When comparing these calls with the first two years, we have seen a higher expression of interest. After overcoming a year of the pandemic, the agriculture sector needs investments,” said Krifca. She mentioned that for the smaller grants provided by the IPARD instrument, data processing takes a short time, while for applications for larger investments, it may take 5-6 months.
The applications are now more comprehensive and accurate compared to previous years. If there are excess funds from this call, another round will be opened at the end of the year to support farmers. The Agency is also in the process of obtaining approval for the IPARD 3 program, which has a fund of 160 million euros. “We will have the opportunity to add new measures and bring investments to deeper rural areas,” Krifca added.
The closed call offered 29.1 million euros for farmers, with a part given as grants and another part as soft loans. The main goal of the program is to modernize agricultural production lines, giving businesses and farmers access to low-cost financing.
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