Filipche: Mickoski, the government treating grape growers 'cruelly and inhumanely'

Venko Filipche, president of SDSM, accused Prime Minister Hristijan Mickoski and the Government of North Macedonia of treating grape growers cruelly and inhumanely, saying they face humiliating purchase prices during the current harvest and at the same time struggle with sharply higher production costs.

Filipche made the remarks during a visit to the Tikves region, where he met with local growers and representatives from the wine sector. He warned that the situation this year repeats last year’s problems and singled out the cabinet and the agriculture minister for offering what he described as degrading prices for grapes.

Immediate measures and a parliamentary draft law

Filipche listed rising input costs as a central part of the growers’ hardship, highlighting fuel, labour and fertiliser prices. “Production costs have increased manifold. Just look at the price of fuel. Furthermore, costs have risen for labour. People who pick the grapes demand 2,000 denars. The price of water has increased and, of course, the price of fertilizer used to fertilize the land has risen enormously,” he said.

As an immediate remedy, SDSM will push in Parliament for a law to raise the purchase price of all varieties of wine and table grapes by 5 denars per kilogram. “That is why we demand an immediate increase in purchase prices and in that direction we will give a draft law in the Assembly, by which the purchase price of all varieties of wine and table grapes will be increased by 5 denars per kilogram,” Filipche said.

He also called for elimination of an 8% discount that wineries reportedly require as a condition to pay growers immediately for the grapes they buy. “Furthermore, to abolish the 8% discount that the winemakers offer as a condition to pay immediately the entire quantity of grapes they will purchase,” Filipche said.

The third measure proposed by SDSM is state intervention to buy any unsold dark/black grapes so growers are not left with produce they cannot sell. “Third, to adopt an intervention measure, because there are announcements that not all black grapes will be purchased. All the black grapes that remain with the growers should be purchased by the state,” he said.

Filipche framed the demands as minimal support for people working long hours under high temperatures and spending their savings to cover seasonal costs. “This is the least our grape growers deserve, this is the least these people who work from morning till evening in this strong sun to feed their families deserve, the people who took out their last savings during the past year to buy fertiliser, to pay the workers, to pay for fuel, to pay for water, so that this year there will be an adequate yield,” he said. He added a final rebuke: “This is the least this anti-people, treacherous government of Hristijan Mickoski can do for these people.”

Photo: press material from the event