Next year Czech foresters will receive 2 billion CZK (Czech crowns) in forestry support, rather than the 500 million originally provided for in the draft budget. Agriculture Minister Marek Výborný (Marek Výborný) announced this in an interview with the newspaper ČTK (Česke Noviny). The Association of Municipal, Private and Church Forest Owners of the Czech Republic (SVOL) complained last week about the lack of money and is not satisfied even after this increase in funding. The Agriculture Minister acknowledged that he could imagine the budget taking a different form as well. Výborný noted that, as minister, he has to act sensibly with the money available; he has reached agreement with the Ministry of Finance on the internal structure of the budget and will present this proposal to agricultural non-governmental organisations in September.
Under the state budget draft, spending on forestry support was due to fall next year – in 2025 – to half a billion crowns, whereas this year the sector has 2.1 billion crowns at its disposal. “I can guarantee that within the structures of the Ministry of Agriculture this sum will be increased to two billion,” said Marek Výborný. Overall, however, the budget will not be increased – the minister said the ministry will either find the money to support non-state forest owners from the sale of emission allowances, or move it from other budget headings.
“I have an agreement with the Ministry of Finance on what the internal structure of the budget will look like. How and what we will support is currently being clarified,” the Czech Agriculture Minister said. In response, the Association of Municipal, Private and Church Forest Owners of the Czech Republic (SVOL) said the increase would not resolve the long-running problem of forestry funding.
“By our calculations, around four billion crowns a year are needed. These funds are extremely important, especially for owners whose forests have been hit by the catastrophic bark beetle infestation,” SVOL chairman Jiří Svoboda told the Czech news agency.
Forest owners report that some have still not received money for applications submitted last year. Minister Výborný acknowledged that part of the support for private and municipal forest owners is only being paid out now. The minister does not regard this situation as a sustainable way of supporting foresters. “I have to be able to keep my promises and commitments to forest owners,” Výborný stressed.
In addition to support for foresters, the Agriculture Minister considers improving land infrastructure to be a priority in next year's budget. "I think we will have 1.5-2 billion crowns more for carrying out land infrastructure improvement measures, because these are important matters that need attention," the minister said. At present, according to Výborný, the authority can provide only just under two billion a year for land infrastructure improvements, such as building farm tracks and restoring ponds or other water bodies.
The Czech Agriculture Minister also considers it important that next year's budget provide two billion in support for farmers. According to Marek Výborný, the ministry will keep part of the money in subsidies and transfer part to the Agriculture and Forestry Support and Guarantee Fund for interest or insurance support. “The money is intended not as universal support for everyone, but chiefly for where we currently feel most vulnerable, namely the medium-sized enterprise segment,” Výborný added. According to the minister, the sum will be distributed to farmers with complex production processes. The minister also wants to support agricultural producers of national importance, such as growers of fruit, vegetables and sugar beet.
Under the draft Czech state budget, the Ministry of Agriculture will spend more than 58.7 billion crowns next year. That is around 5 billion crowns more than this year.