Given that the meeting of Agriculture Minister Tihomir Jakovina and representatives of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) ended without an agreement, farmers from Slavonia have decided to block the Djakovo beltway and several other locations in continental counties, head of the federation of farmers' associations from Slavonija and Baranja (ZUSSB) Antun Laslo said on Thursday.
Laslo said that the news about lack of an agreement angered the farmers who decided to block the roads with their tractors until further notice.
He said the roads wold remain blocked until their demands were met, adding that their representatives would not attend the next round of negotiations, scheduled for Monday.
Earlier today, the meeting between Jakovina and representatives of the Croatian Chamber of Agriculture (HPK) ended without an agreement and a new meeting is scheduled for Monday, August 12.
After the meeting that lasted several hours, HPK president Matija Brlosic told the press that the minister requested a "time-out" until Monday. The HPK believes that Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and Finance Minister Slavko Linic should be included in the negotiations.
He said he would inform the HPK of today's meeting and the proposal to resume the negotiations on Monday, adding however, he did not know how disgruntled farmed who took it to the streets yesterday would react.
The Agriculture Ministry issued a statement saying that the meeting on Monday would focus on possible reliefs and concrete measures aimed at helping farmers.
The statement said that Minister Jakovina mostly understood the problems farmers were facing and that at today's meeting he explained that nearly HRK 2.4 billion kuna of incentives have already been paid out, which is more than in previous years.
Brlosic, however, said that the budget for the farming sector was cut the most, saying that HPK representatives asked the minister to remind the prime minister of his promise that he would not forget the Slavonija region.
