IFFA 2022
MEAT PLACE | SPECIAL EDITION
George Georgantas Minister of Rural Development and Food
«We are on alert, monitoring developments and adjusting our decisions»
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n the midst of an objectively difficult period due to inflation, high prices and the food security risk posed by the war in Ukraine, the Minister of Rural Development and Food (YPAAT), George Georgantas spoke to MEAT PLACE giving an all-encompassing interview responding to our request to provide answers, both to the many and serious issues that arose just 15 days after he took office, and to chronic issues of the sector, which he inherited by assuming this specific ministerial post.
INTERVIEW: Panos Katsachnias PHOTOGRAPHS: Maria Stavrianou
MEAT PLACE | You took over the Ministry of Rural Development and Food and fifteen days later the war broke out in Ukraine with all its consequences for the food industry, prices, food security of the country. How did you deal with it? George Georgantas | The first thing I did was to implement decisions concerning the reduction of production costs, anticipating that the problem would escalate. In fact, the first decision I signed as a minister is the payment of 50 million euros to our farmers, as a refund for the adjustment clause. At
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Interview George Georgantas.indd 24
18/04/2022 14:11