The food industry in Romania needs support programmes in the coming years, even beyond European funds, because it does not produce enough, and this year there will be two to three new schemes for animal husbandry, Finance Minister Tanczos Barna said on Saturday, in a briefing held at the Victoria Palace after the approval of the 2025 budget, Agerpres reports.
"We have several funding schemes in the relevant ministries. Agriculture generates a very large deficit, and the food industry does not produce enough. We have Investalim (a national funding programme to support the food industry), and there are two to three new schemes prepared by Minister Barbu [Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu], I spoke with him yesterday, for animal husbandry, to increase domestic production and domestic processing, because that is one of the biggest problems. Having spent several good years in the Ministry of Agriculture as secretary of state, I know what the issues were back then. Unfortunately, they have not been solved: live animals leave the country, and the salami comes back; wheat leaves, and bakery products or other processed products come back. That is one of the biggest stakes for the coming years. Investalim is needed, and there will be a need for support programmes for the food industry even beyond the European funds that are accessible and that are attracted by the Ministry of Agriculture at a rate of 98-99% year after year or period after period," Tanczos Barna said.
On the other hand, he said that the programmes from the Ministry of Economy, such as Start-up Nation and Entrepreneur Woman, will continue, with funds allocated for making payments."At the same time, I have agreed with Minister Ivan [Minister of Economy, Digitisation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Bogdan Ivan] that we will continue the programmes from the Ministry of Economy. Start-up Nation will be an annual programme. This year we have ensured commitment credits for contracting, and once the payments start, they will also have the money to make payments. We even talked today about Entrepreneur Woman, and we have already started the contracts, and they even have money to start making payments in the second half of the year. So, for the Economy, we will need a boost, a catalyst, in the areas that most often generate or have the largest trade deficits," Tanczos Barna added.