The European Commission has today (Thursday, June 23) approved a €1 million Croatian scheme to support maize seed producers.
The state aid has been approved in response to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Similar to schemes approved in other EU member states, the Croatian measure was sanctioned under the State aid Temporary Crisis Framework, adopted by the EU Commission on March 23, 2022.
That framework acknowledges that the EU economy is experiencing “a serious disturbance” due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The scheme will allow eligible maize-seed producers in Croatia to access direct grants.
It will be open to companies of all sizes active in the production of maize seed which have been impacted by the increase in electricity, animal feed and fuel prices caused by the conflict and related sanctions.
EU Commission executive vice-president Margrethe Vestager, who is in charge of competition policy, said:
“This scheme will enable Croatia to support maize seed producers affected by the input costs increase caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the related sanctions.
“We continue to stand with Ukraine and its people. At the same time, we continue working closely with member states to ensure that national support measures can be put in place in a timely, coordinated and effective way, while protecting the level playing field in the single market,” she stated.
Earlier this week, the EU Commission approved a €180 million scheme to support Italian companies in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture sectors.
It also gave the green light for a €3.9 million scheme to support the beef, poultry and horticulture sectors in Estonia.