Skopje, 14 September 2022 (MIA) – Production of raw milk has dropped, mainly because of the drought and the rising prices of animal feed, but there can be no question of a permanent shortage, nor is there room for such fears, say dairy processors. According to them, both the dairy processing industry and the dairy producers, faced with the large increase in costs and the energy price increases of 400-500 percent, are making every effort to increase the purchase price, which in comparison to last year has recorded a rise of about 40 percent, when it comes to farmers producing high-quality products the price increase is over 50 percent. “The challenges in the Macedonian dairy industry are nothing new. If we look back at 2011 and 2016, we will see that the issues were the same. Currently, the production of raw milk is lower mainly because of the drought and the increased price of animal feed on whose import we are traditionally dependent. Still, we cannot say that this is a permanent shortage of milk, there are no reasons for such fears. It also must be said that the increased demand caused by the rumors that there will be no milk, also contributes to the perception of shortage,” Gjorgji Petrushev, president of the Group for the Manufacture, Purchase and Processing of Milk, as well as the Agriculture and Food-processing Industry Association within the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia, tells MIA. Petrushev says that “in such a situation, it would be good if the announced payment of all the overdue subsidies for each liter of milk delivered was finally realized, as well as the announced intervention aid of two denars for part of the milk delivered in 2022.” The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Water Economy announced Tuesday that the Intervention Program will be supplemented with a financial support measure for produced and delivered cow, sheep and goat milk. Two days ago, Minister Ljupcho Nikolovski confirmed that there will be no shortage of milk. He said a sufficient amount of food products will be secured, and this applies to milk as well. “As part of the food security agreement signed at the last Open Balkan summit, a commission was established that analyzes all the storage capacities of the three countries in order to provide the citizens with the basic products. We proposed a 30 percent increase of the basic subsidies per animal in the livestock sector, we are eliminating all measures that, according to all the analyses, have been abused until now, and I believe that this, as well as the other measures from the Rural Development Program, will mean tangible support for the livestock sector,” said Nikolovski. The Ministry of Economy told MIA that they are continuously monitoring the market situation regarding basic food products, including milk. In order to aid the situation, the Ministry said it has adopted two significant measures – limiting the trade margin to 10 percent for various types of pasteurized cow milk as well as canceling the customs rates for milk and sour cream. According to the Ministry, the customs rates have been canceled since September 1 and will remain so until December 31, 2022. On September 6, 2022, the Government of Serbia adopted a decision banning exports of raw and pasteurized milk, except to North Macedonia and Albania. ad/ik/