On May 20, Vakhtang Khomizurashvili, a guest on the “Comment of the Day” program of the Alt-Info TV company, stated that Latvian farmers will receive compensation from the EU for destroying their products. According to him, this is due to tough competition in the European market, and the EU is trying to get rid of surplus products in this form. The guest further said that this example makes it clear that no one needs Georgian products in Europe because there is simply no place for them.
The assertion that the EU pays compensation to Latvian farmers for the destruction of their products is not true. Such information cannot be found in open sources. Similar allegations have been spread in the past to discredit European integration.
In an attempt to verify the statement of Vakhtang Khomizurashvili, the Myth Detector checked English, Latvian, Georgian, and Russian language sources, but to no avail. Such information has not been published in any media, nor has any official source stated it.
Myth Detector contacted the European Commission to find out whether the EU compensates Latvian farmers for destroying their produce. In a written response, the spokesperson of the European Commission said that the EU does not compensate member states for destroying their produce but instead helps farmers as part of the common agricultural policy.
The EU implements a number of programs to assist farmers in member states; in the 2021-2027 budget, one third of the organization’s total budget is allocated to subsidies to farmers to motivate them to continue their activities and to have the desire and capacity to create products. Part of the common agricultural policy are significant funds such as the European agricultural guarantee fund and the European agricultural fund for rural development, under which, in cases where more than 20% of farmers’ average annual production is destroyed due to unfavorable weather conditions or a severe drop in their income, farmers are compensated or/and supported by insurance contracts to cover losses. For example, in 2024, Latvian farmers engaged in animal husbandry received some compensation from the EU for losses caused by a sharp drop in milk prices in the previous year and a severe drought. In July 2023, the European Commission approved a total of 330 million euros in assistance for 27 EU member states to support farmers, of which 6.8 million euros were allocated to Latvia.
It is worth noting that in 2022, the share of agriculture in Latvia’s GDP was 5.02%, compared to 3.21% in 2012. The leading economic activity in the country is the service sector, which, for many years, has comprised more than 60% of GDP annually.
Disinformation that there is no place for Georgian products on the EU market and that due to a lack of space, farmers of various countries destroy their products has been spread earlier too. Read more in the Myth Detector’s materials:
- DISINFORMATION THAT FRENCH AND POLISH FARMERS DISCHARGE MILK INTO SEWERS
- PRO-KREMLIN TV HOST AMPLIFIES DISINFORMATION ON THE EXPORT OF POLISH AND AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTS TO THE EUROPEAN UNION
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