Agricultural Payments and Intervention Agency (APIA) informs that the Emergency Ordinance 85/2023 regarding the financial management of non-repayable European funds allocated to Romania from EAGF and EAFRD, related to the Common Agricultural Policy, as well as funds allocated from the state budget for the 2021-2027 programming period, has been published in the Official Gazette. This ordinance also includes modifications and completions to some normative acts in the field of guarantees.

This legal framework ensures the payment of over 1 billion euros as an advance by November 30, 2023. Approximately 800,000 farmers benefit from the provisions of this normative act on Pillar I of the CAP 2023-2027 for the advance payment related to the Payment Requests submitted in 2023.

The amounts set for the 2023 application year (presented in the Annex) can be found in the Order approving the reallocation of sums in 2023 and establishing the conditions for granting the advance for decoupled direct payments financed from EAGF, within the framework of the 2023-2027 CAP strategic plan, subject to public debate on the MADR website.

It should be noted that member states can grant payments for interventions/measures, with a maximum percentage of 70% for interventions from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and 85% for measures from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

Payments for interventions funded from EAGF are made in lei, at the exchange rate of 4.9735 lei/euro, and payments for measures funded from EAFRD at the exchange rate of 4.9495 lei/euro.

Since October 23, 2023, when the normative act issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MADR) regarding the subsidy regime for the Advance Payment Campaign was published in the Official Gazette No. 956, specifically Order 447/2023 for the approval in 2023 of the reallocation of sums and the establishment of conditions for granting the advance for decoupled direct payments financed from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund within the 2023-2027 CAP strategic plan,

The Agricultural Payments and Intervention Agency (APIA) reports that a total of 100,135 farmers, with an amount of approximately 41.04 million euros, have been transferred to the institution's financial accounting system for the purpose of making payments in commercial banks and/or the Treasury.

Therefore, to meet the financial needs of Romanian farmers, APIA has extended its working hours until 24:00.

Recall that during the 2023 Campaign, APIA grants advances of 70% from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) for direct payments and 85% from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) for delegated measures.

Payments for interventions funded from EAGF are made in lei, at the exchange rate of 4.9735 lei/euro, and payments for measures funded from EAFRD at the exchange rate of 4.9495 lei/euro.

The Agricultural Payments and Intervention Agency (APIA) is making the payment of the state aid in the livestock breeding sector (breeding improvement), requested through the payment requests for services provided in August 2023.

The authorized amount for payment is 2,584,486.87 lei and is granted from the state budget, through the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, for applicants who have accessed this form of state aid in accordance with the provisions of Emergency Ordinance no. 61/2023 on establishing a state aid scheme in the livestock breeding sector.