About a million litres of milk were not delivered by dairy farmers throughout Croatia on Monday, dairy farmers' representative Antun Laslo said.
Dairy farmers suspended milk deliveries to milk processors throughout the country until their demand for the purchase price of HRK 4.05 per litre was met.
"Nearly all farms have suspended their deliveries", Laslo said, adding that farms in Vukovar-Srijem County would do so as of Tuesday because there had been "certain problems in communication". He said that the dairy farmers had no other choice because they were on the verge of collapse.
It has been recommended to farmers to hand out their milk to people free of charge and to spill any remaining milk into the fields.
Laslo said that his farm in Djakovacka Satnica handed out about 400 litres of milk today, and its daily output is about 900 litres. He criticised Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina for stating that the government had no reserve money for the dairy farmers while at the same it was allowing increases in electricity and natural gas prices.
"We dairy farmers are not beggars, we just demand an economic price of milk", Laso said.
The president of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture, Mato Brlosic, said that the Chamber was supporting the farmers in their demands for a higher purchase price of milk. He said that a long-term solution to this problem should be found and that the purchase price of milk must be profitable for producers.