The board of the Union of Greens and Farmers (ZZS) has plans to submit to the Saeima the request from the Latvian Union of Farmers (LZS) for the dismissal of Minister of Agriculture Didzis Šmits, as confirmed by ZZS press-secretary Dace Kārkliņa.
She said ZZS is in agreement with the farmers union, specifically that the minister’s inaction and inability to set limits has led to the ongoing uncontrolled food price growth.
The board of ZZS concluded that over the course of the past two years food prices have growth by nearly 40%. On top of that, there’s been a rapid growth for necessities:
the price of bread has leaped by one-third in the past year, the price of eggs has growth by one-fifth. A similar leap in prices was observed for vegetables as well.
“The minister has yet to present any solutions to limit the uncontrolled growth of food prices,” ZZS stresses, adding that
unlike Latvia, other EU member states have employed tax reductions and price ceilings for necessities.
ZZS also explains that it is necessary to perform tighter inspections of stores and other sellers to ensure residents can purchase necessary food items at affordable prices.
Observing the dramatic price surge for food products, ZZS made multiple attempts to ensure a reduction of VAT for dairy products, bread, fresh meat and fish, and eggs in order to reduce residents’ everyday costs at least slightly.
However, this suggestion from ZZS has remained ignored.
Organisations representing farmers admit that the markup for certain locally produced food products ranges between 70% and 300%.
“In this situation farmers are forced to tighten their belts. People cannot purchase everyday food products. Meanwhile, traders continue making profits,” stresses ZZS Saeima faction leader Viktors Valainis.
The politician concluded that minister Šmits has done nothing to limit traders’ arbitrary decisions and promote the opportunities of local producers to offer their goods to consumers.
ZZS notes that the dairy sector, which is in another crisis in Latvia at the moment, remains unheard by the minister.
“Over the past six months the minister has organised meetings, has talked and thought about it, but there is still no tangible solution to end the uncontrolled price rise and protect the least well-off residents,” stresses Valainis.
The party believes now is the last time to give a clear signal that the time has come to put a stop to arbitrary practices in the continued price rise.
ZZS also notes that Šmits remains the only minister in the current government in Latvia that still has not been provided a permit to access official secrets.
Also read: Latvian Farmers Union to request dismissal of the Minister of Agriculture