Romania’s certified agricultural producers will qualify for funds from the Ministry of the Environment to purchase agricultural machinery, government spokesman Mihai Constantin announced on Wednesday.

„Individuals certified as agricultural producers will qualify for public funds for the purchase of self-propelled agricultural machinery, with a co-financing amount from the Environmental Fund Administration fund of 65%. In order to be eligible, an application has to be submitted and certain criteria met that will be detailed in the application rules, which will soon come after this government decision approved today,” Constantin told a news conference at the Government House.

He added that in order to benefit from this co-financing, agricultural producers have to scrap a vehicle or other agricultural equipment under a vehicle scrappage programme.

„If we are talking about certified farmers who are individuals up to 40 years old, they qualify for an age bonus for encouraging young people, for orienting young people towards the field of agricultural production and then the co-financing will be 80%, instead of 65%. The government decision approved today can be implemented on a budget of RON 500 million carried out via the Environmental Fund Authority operating under the authority of the Ministry of Environment.”

AGERPRES