The President of Georgia met with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Agriculture. Mikheil Saakashvili expressed interest in the process of distributing 30 GEL agricultural vouchers for the spring work. According to the President, this program envisions stimulating the population in order for more agricultural land to be used. The Head of State requested detailed information regarding the accounting of tractors and their import to the villages. By the initiative of the President, those who have purchased tractors through avoiding additional costs and have hidden these tractors will not be penalized. Moreover, according to Mikheil Saakashvili there will be amnesty regarding the hidden cost debt. As the President noted, it is more important now that people use the existing tractors to work on their land.
“Georgia needs at least 5-6 thousand tractors in order to feel relief. I think we have a deficit in this area. The people who do not have tractors can buy pesticides instead or if they can’t use these vouchers they can just cash them in June. I advise them to use these vouchers for agricultural purposes. I think they will gain more by using the land as apposed to getting 30 GEL as cash. I understand the situation of people that live in high story buildings in the regions and don’t own agricultural lands, but the ones who have land should use the vouchers for agricultural purposes, adding a higher value in the future. The people know this already. This means assistance for specific persons and specific families. This is at least a positive reinforcement for them to use the land and not waste it. More land should be used in light of the conditions of the world financial crisis” – stated Mikheil Saakashvili.
As the Prime Minister told the President, the distribution of vouchers has already begun and farmers will have a chance to use them in mid January. According to Zaza Gorozia, the tractors that are not registered should be accounted for according to current legal regulations. As he noted, the Ministry of Agriculture has already started working with the Revenue Service in order to address this issue.
On the issue of importing tractors - according to the Minister of Agriculture, the first 100 tractors will be imported from Belarus before the end of February, which will assist in implementation of the new program successfully.