The President of the Government defended today that the resolution of the Russian ban is essential to overcome the current situation of the dairy sector and assured that the Azorean Government will continue to do everything within its reach to support regional farmers.
 
"There is one thing that farmers can be sure. The Government will, within the limits of its resources - which have limits - and its powers, do everything in its power to help them," said Vasco Cordeiro during a debate at the Legislative Assembly in Horta.
 
One should recall that the last set of measures implemented by the Regional Government, announced in late 2015, corresponds to a financial allocation higher than the aid granted by the European Union to the entire country.
 
Before the members of the Regional Assembly, the President of the Government restated that the main issue is not the end of the milk quota system, since the growth of milk production in Europe last year was only 2.5 percent compared to the previous year.
 
"This figure does not justify all this disruption in the European market," Vasco Cordeiro said, stressing that the instability the sector faces is directly caused by the Russian ban on dairy products, which, if solved, would quickly improve the situation of milk production in Europe.
 
For Vasco Cordeiro, "the most effective way to solve this problem is not in the hands of any single country, it is in the hands of the European Union." In this context, the President of the Government restated his disappointment with the European Council of Agricultural Ministers because it focused on responses to current situation in production and not on market issues.
 
In the speech delivered today at the plenary session, Vasco Cordeiro also stated that PSD/Açores had poor judgement when it considered that this problem was rooted in the end of milk quotas and that the solution would simply be the creation of a milk observatory.
 
We cannot fool ourselves and farmers. Insisting on a situation that is not the cause of the problem is to deceive the farmers," Vasco Cordeiro said, noting that the legitimacy of PSD in this debate is also contradicted by its own behaviour in Parliament.
 
"Who is truly concerned with farmers, supports the measures provided in the State Budget to help Azorean farmers," such as the 50 percent exempt in the Social Security contributions paid by milk producers, said the President of the Government