Polish Minister of Agriculture Q&A and subsidy challenges

Polish Minister of Agriculture Stefan Krajewski held a live Q&A session to address various agricultural and political matters. During the session, Krajewski commented on former Deputy Minister Michał Kołodziejczak, suggesting that Kołodziejczak has achieved more success as an “influencer” and a promoter of Polish food than in his previous official capacity. He also addressed technical concerns from farmers regarding spatial planning and land use regulations, noting that previous legislation lacked sufficient preparation time and announcing amendments to facilitate the expansion of farm structures. Krajewski has since faced increased political pressure, including calls for his resignation. He attributed these demands to the opposition and claimed he is being targeted by social media hate, noting that personal interests, such as cold-water swimming, have been used against him. The Ministry is also managing administrative challenges regarding subsidies. Farmers have raised concerns that fertilizer subsidy reference prices were published as gross amounts, while the application portal utilizes net prices. There is further dissatisfaction regarding high reference prices that may disqualify some from aid. The Agency for Restructuring and Modernisation of Agriculture (ARiMR) reported significantly lower interest in fertilizer and diesel subsidies than anticipated, with approximately 75,000 applications submitted against an initial estimate of one million. Officials expressed concern over the limited time for administrative checks before the October 23 deadline. Additionally, the ministry is considering pay increases for veterinary doctors to preempt potential labor protests. In a subsequent update, Krajewski defended the allocation of 155 million PLN for bonuses and special additions for ARiMR’s 11,200 employees, citing intensive workloads. ARiMR has distributed 9.5 billion PLN in advances, including 8.54 billion PLN in direct payments.