SDSM submits draft law proposing financial support for farmers hit by the 2026 crisis

SDSM and its coalition group submitted a draft law in the Assembly proposing targeted financial support for farmers to blunt the effects of the 2026 economic crisis on production and procurement.

At a press briefing in the Assembly SDSM leader Venko Filipche described meetings with farmers across the country and warned of mounting losses. "In recent times we met with hundreds of farmers, people who work hard from morning to evening, and we listened to their problems. We were out in the field with them, with the vine-growers, with livestock breeders, dairy producers, rice producers, pepper producers... They all face the same problem. First, they are disappointed because no one in power pays them any attention. Furthermore, they are very worried and afraid, because despite working from morning to evening, they invested the last money from their family budgets, some even took loans to buy inputs so that this year, this season, there would be a harvest for what they work on, and now there is no purchase at all. The crop is rotting in the fields. The small quantity of the product that has been bought is sold at miserably low prices," Filipche said.

Key measures and amounts

The draft law lists per-unit and per-hectare payments for the most affected producers. It foresees 8 denari per kilogram for grapes of the Vranec and Kratosija varieties sold to registered buyers, and a lump sum of 300,000 denari per hectare for vineyards that fail to sell their harvest. Pepper (ajvar-type) producers would receive 10 denari per kilogram sold plus an additional 200,000 denari per recorded hectare. Wheat producers would be paid 5 denari per kilogram regardless of whether the grain was sold to a registered purchaser or stored in a registered warehouse. Livestock producers registered in the 2025 programme and entered for 2026 would receive 8,000 denari per head. Rice producers are included with 10 denari per kilogram of produced and sold rice grain to a registered buyer in 2026.

Beneficiaries must be registered in the Single Registry of Agricultural Holdings. The proposed assistance is intended to be supplementary to regular direct payments and other 2026 measures, and the draft requires the Payment Agency to disburse funds no later than December 31, 2026. According to the proposal, these payments should help farmers plan for the next season, including preparations for 2027.

"This is what is needed now: not selling off Macedonian land and water for other people's interests and profits. Macedonian land should be cultivated by Macedonian farmers, and water should be used first for a decent life, and then to irrigate the land," Filipche added, reiterating the party’s stance on land and water policy.

Filipche urged members of the ruling parties in the Assembly to back the bill, arguing the measures arrive at an "extremely critical moment" and that the vote should not be treated as a political divide but as a matter of survival for thousands of families who depend on agriculture.

Photo: press material from the event