Pelagonia livestock farmers to protest on September 30, demanding unpaid milk subsidies

Livestock and crop farmers in Pelagonia have announced that on September 30 they will take to the streets in protest, demanding payment of overdue milk subsidies, which have not been paid since July of last year. The protest will be held on Wednesday, starting at 11:00, near Topollçan, by the “Osman” mill on the Manastir–Prilep road, and is organized by the associations “Pelagonisko pole” and “Farmeri Jugozapad”. The protest is expected to last about an hour and a half.

Farmers are also outraged by the drop in the purchase price of milk by dairies. According to them, a liter of milk, which last year sold for up to 33 denars, has now fallen to 23 denars, with the risk of dropping to 20 denars — “the price of a bottle of water in a market,” as they put it. They also complain that the government has not reacted to this 10-denar-per-liter drop.

Bortçe Buçinski, representative of the “Pelagonisko pole” association, rejected the claims of Agriculture Minister Bortçe Serafimovski that 90 percent of subsidies for 2025 have been paid. “We say that not even 50 percent of the obligations to farmers have been paid,” he said. According to those familiar with the situation, the state owes farmers around 600 million denars for unpaid premiums on milk delivered during 2025 and around 500 million denars for the first months of 2026. Farmers demand to be included in drafting the Program for 2027 and to be paid 250 euros per head of cattle, instead of the current 8,000 denars — a sum reduced from the 12,000 denars it was two years ago.

Mile Kebakoski, head of the “Farmeri Jugozapad” association, said they tried to resolve the problems at the table with the Ministry of Agriculture but failed to secure a meeting with officials. “I am sorry that we have to protest for our problems,” he said. On social media, farmers call for a massive protest, “shoulder to shoulder,” although some of them comment that “90 percent of farmers are afraid to come out.”

For his part, Agriculture Minister Bortçe Serafimovski told Parliament that this year around 90 percent of the funds planned for financial support in agriculture have been realized — around 6.5 billion denars, or about 105.8 million euros. According to him, since taking office on July 13 this year, seven separate payments have been made totaling 1.227 billion denars. The minister also announced stepped-up checks on disbursed subsidies, stressing that verifications so far have uncovered unrealistic yields, irregularities at some farms and abuses in livestock breeding.