«Although the Finance Ministry banned discounts for diesel, they blame us,» points out the organization Farmers Parliament (FP) representatives.

As reported, on Thursday, December 6, the Finance Ministry announced that farmers who decide to lend a hand in snow removal and avert the damages will not be able to use the fuel with excise duty relief. The State Revenue Service (SRS) will monitor if this condition is observed. The legislation stipulates that the excise duty does not have to be paid for fuel that is only used for agricultural work, and snow removal does not apply to it; therefore, farmers will not be able to use fuel with discounts, the Finance Ministry’s representative Aleksis Jarockis specifies to the agency LETA, emphasizing that the assisted local governments can purchase the necessary fuel for farmers.

«Already before we offered to help transport the snow out of Riga, it was clear that farmers will use the excise fuel. We do not accept any other variants. Only for some reason the Finance Ministry, without asking, has again made the farmers as the scapegoat. This winter, local governments throughout Latvia cannot do without farmers’ assistance. For symbolic prices farmers offer their services in the snow removal, because often the local governments do not have the necessary equipment. Many farmers lent power generators, helped with the water supply to villages, added generators and pumped the water. They helped out no matter what time of day it was, whether the night or the New Year’s Eve,» points out the FP representatives.

While, on Thursday, December 6, the Agriculture Minister Jānis Dūklavs drew attention to this issue at the emergency government meeting, calling on the responsible institutions not to monitor these norms so strictly, because this could reduce farmers’ involvement in the snow removal. The Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis also reminded that it has been assigned to reinforce monitoring of the excised fuel turnover, because up to date there have been cases when farmers themselves dishonestly used the situation and undertook the fuel trade.

As reported, all the formalities will be arranged by Friday and farmers will help transporting the snow from Riga with their equipment. Currently, farmers seek for their colleagues who are prepared to participate in the snow removal. Discussions have also been started to determine the responsible institution from the Municipality’s side that will organize and coordinate this process.

«Farmers are ready to help cutting trees near transmission lines, clear access to electric lines and do other things for remuneration not only in Riga, but also elsewhere in Latvia. However, there was no offer received from Latvenergo,» notes the FP spokesperson Ilona Kuzmiča.

«Professional and qualified work is the most important. Also our specialist surveillance here is mandatory. The special services and professionals have already been involved. If such readiness is expressed by the Farmers Parliament, please respond to offers at Sadales tīkls regional departments, which the FP people already know,» says Latvenergo External Relations Department Head Andris Siksnis.