The Croatian Federation of Milk Farmers' Associations believes that the Dukat dairy company has blackmailed its contractors with its decision not to collect their milk in order to make them agree to new contracts with unfavourable conditions.
"Ahead of milk farmers' protests, on 14 February the Federation informed Dukat that there would be traffic delays outside Dukat, but that the protesters would not prevent the passage of tank trucks which collect milk from contractors on a daily basis. The company management issued an order that tank trucks should not collect milk, thus blackmailing its contractors to make them accept new contracts with unfavourable terms," the Federation said on Monday.
Milk farmers have been protesting outside the Dukat dairy company in Zagreb and the Sirela dairy in Bjelovar since Tuesday, and they also staged protests outside Dukat's logistics centre in Djakovo and outside the KIM dairy factory in Karlovac.
The farmers want Dukat to withdraw its offer for the purchase price of raw milk for February of HRK 2.30, which is about HRK 0.40 less than the previous price, and they demand the average purchase price of milk to be similar to the average price in the EU.
