The Memorandum on Reducing Food Prices, in effect for about five months, is not working, believes the organization 'Farmers' Saeima', public media report.
The author of the initiative, Minister of Economy Viktor Valainis (Union of Greens and Farmers), claims otherwise. Farmers also note that after the memorandum, cooperation with supermarkets has only become more complicated. According to economists, too little time has passed to judge the trends.
"We see that traders are doing very poorly in fulfilling the memorandum. The share of local products on store shelves is not increasing. The situation is not improving for local producers, and cooperation is even deteriorating," said board member of the 'Farmers' Saeima' Martins Trons.
The organization also notes that this autumn, supermarkets have reduced purchase prices for farmers by almost half, while prices on store shelves have not changed or have even increased. The Minister of Economy disagreed with this assessment.
"In my opinion, the data shows that it [the memorandum] is working. It has yielded results in terms of price dynamics across the Baltics. We are finally moving from being record holders in price increases to our prices starting to decrease. As for the share of agricultural products and goods from our producers in stores, we see that it remains high," said Valainis.
The responsible commission of the Saeima plans to return to the assessment of the memorandum's implementation. Its head, Kaspars Briškens ('Progressives'), noted that the Ministry of Economy has not yet prepared amendments to the law, and the price comparison tool, which was one of the main points of the memorandum, has not been implemented. "I see certain shortcomings in the implementation of the memorandum. If we see that the homework is not being done and the memorandum is not providing people with more favorable and affordable prices, obviously, we will have to intervene again," said Briškens.
