Vol. 77/No. 7      February 25, 2013

More than 1,500 tractors were parked, some three deep, on the side of the National Highway connecting Athens to the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Several other smaller tractor protests took place throughout the country, in Thrace, Macedonia and Thessaly. On a four-hour drive from Larissa to Athens, these reporters spotted four smaller demonstrations on the side of the road. On this day representatives of 35 local farmers’ associations were meeting to discuss the recent offer made by the government to speed up several subsidy payments and delay implementation of stricter retirement regulations.

“We have been here 10 days already,” Apostolos Totsios, a cotton farmer, told the Militant. “Thirty-five tractors are here from Maratheas, my village. More would have come, but it costs a lot in gas to get here. Our whole village of 700 people had to collect money to get us here. This is going on throughout the plain in village after village.”

Regional farm organizations each had their kiosk, with a barbecue and tables set up at the side of the road.

“The main issues we face have to do with skyrocketing costs of production,” said cotton farmer Vaggelis Kokalaras. “This primarily has to do with tax increases on fuel. At the same time prices for cotton have plummeted by about 20 percent since last year.”

“They provide tax-free fuel to the shipowners and industrialists, why not to us who grow all the food and fiber,” Kokalaras said.

“Electricity costs have also shot up by 70 percent,” said cotton farmer Vaios Filos. “There used to be special agricultural prices for electricity but now they have been eliminated. In addition, they have stuck onto the bills an environmental damage tax!”

“The value added tax has also increased to 23 percent,” Kokalaras pointed out. “We get a 6 percent rebate for production necessities, which gets reimbursed after many months. So that puts it at 17 percent, it used to be 11 percent.”

“We also take all the risks. There have been serious losses due to the green worm infestation. It is costing us 33 euros [$44] per strema [0.25 acres] just for pesticides,” said Totsios.

“It is not only diseases but breakdowns. For example, to replace a tractor tire costs 1,000 euros [$1,345]. A sudden expense that you did not expect,” chimed in cotton farmer Kostas Kontonikos.

“With the sale of the state-owned ATE [Agricultural Bank of Greece], credit costs have also increased,” said Kokalaras.

“Clearly all the problems we face are very big. I can say that things will have to change in many countries. Only then will we be able to see a difference in our ability to produce and live decently in the village,” Filos said.

The presence of police and special forces in armored buses was reinforced through the day.

The meeting of farmers’ associations decided to reject the government’s partial concessions.

They called for strengthening the tractor protest and daily road blockades from 2 to 3 p.m. As they moved to carry out these decisions Feb. 11, road blockages were in some areas combined with handing out leaflets and food to motorists.  
 
 
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