Embargo on sales of milk to Russia has negative impact on Slovak farmers

The embargo on sales of milk to Russia and the scrapping of milk export quotas have led to a flooding of the European market, causing price to drop, reported the local news agency TASR on Monday.

"The trading price of milk down from an average of 35 cents (0.39 U.S. dollars) per liter last year to just 28 cents (0.31 U.S. dollars) in 2015 is having a huge negative effect on Slovak dairy farmers," announced chairman of the Slovak Agriculture and Food Chamber Milan Semancik.

"As many as 26 dairy farmers have gone out of business over the past year," added Semacik.

The Slovak Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry has promised to raise milk subsidies to five cents (0.06 U.S. dollars) per kiloliters of milk, but Semancik claimed this wouldn't be enough, noting at the same time that Hungarian dairy farmers receive as twice a subsidy than Slovak farmers.

"We hope that the cut in VAT on milk from 20 to 10 percent may make a difference, but this will only help if traders actually cut the price of milk on the shelves," concluded Semancik.