Farmers on Monday stopped delivering milk to manufacturers and will continue to do so until its price is raised to HRK 4.05 per litre. In the meantime, they will give the milk away for free, estimating that about one million litres will stay at the farms today.
The vice president of the HSUPM association of milk farmers, Nedjeljko Babic, said he had no information at the moment on when negotiations with dairy manufacturers and the Agriculture Ministry would begin.
He warned that the situation in the milk industry was critical, and voiced hope that manufacturers and the Agriculture Ministry would accept their terms and that a solution would be found so that the delivery suspension did not go on for too long.
Farmers decided at a meeting on Sunday to stop delivering milk to manufacturers.
Problems became prominent in February, when manufacturers cut the purchase price of milk from HRK 2.65 to 2.09 per litre, which is causing farmers losses.
Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina recently urged farmers not to stop deliveries, announcing a meeting for Wednesday when a milk code would be presented. Aligned with "the European Union's milk package, it should arrange all relationships between farmers and manufacturers, including the purchase price."
On Saturday, Jakovina said farmers would have to settle for a HRK 0.15 increase per litre announced by manufacturers, adding that a purchase price of HRK 4.05 per litre would result in a higher milk price in shops.
