Romanian local farmers prefer to feed their milk to pigs instead of selling it to processors for prices that do not cover costs. The Romanian press also writes about a presidential commission report proposing the legalisation of drugs and prostitution. Last but not least, unemployment in Romania soars on its way to reach its climax.
Romanian local farmers prefer to throw their milk to pigs instead of selling it to processors for prices that do not cover costs, Adevarul informs. Most farmers are offered between 30 bani and 1.2 lei per litre and, by the time the milk reaches store shelves, the prices is four or five times bigger. The reason processors invoke for the low price is the fact that the milk is not produced according to EU norms, which see that no more than 100.000 germs and a maximum of 400.000 somatic cells should be found in one milk millilitre.
In order to cope with the costs, many farmers sell on the "black milk market", namely straight to their neighbours, managing to get 3 lei per litre. The money the processors would otherwise pay for one litre can only buy them one cigarette, a chewing gum or one candy, but it won’t cover the cost of a bottle of sparkling water. The Romanian inner milk market is worth almost one billion euros. But because the farmers do not comply with the EU norms, Romanian processors import from Hungary and Poland. The main diary companies in Romania are Friesland, Danone, Albalact and La Dorna.
Diary producers claim that the price is right and show that one litre of milk in the EU costs 12 to 22 cents when bought from farmers, whilst in Romania it costs 25 cents. But the Romanian Union for Cattle Breeders (SCTR) says that the milk price should be 1.5 lei, that is it should increased by 20%. Another problem underlined by SCTR shows that lucky farmers receive their money in 35-45 days from selling
