GOVT HAS FULFILLED MOST OF ITS OBLIGATIONS TOWARDS FARMERS - MINISTER

ZAGREB, June 27 (Hina) - The Government has fulfilled most of its obligations towards farmers, Croatian Agriculture Minister Ivan Djurkic said on Saturday, commenting on farmers' protests which started yesterday in several Croatian counties. Imposing a ban on the import of agricultural products is impossible due to the talks on Croatia's admission to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which are in their final stage, Djurkic said in last night's central news broadcast on Croatian Television (HTV). The Government cannot offer the farmers anything more than it had promised the leaders of the Croatian Farmers' Association (HSS). The Government will take certain measures against the owner of the Virovitica sugar refinery, who is now the only one to owe the farmers money for last year's yields, Djurkic said. On Monday, we will pay premiums for milk and thus arrive at a level that has been agreed on between the farmers and the Agriculture Ministry, the Minister said. It is not in the Ministry's or the Government's jurisdiction to determine the purchase price of wheat, Djurkic said, commenting on HSS's demand that the purchase price of wheat be increased to US$0.18. The guaranteed price of wheat, which was determined last autumn, is not the purchase price, Djurkic said. "I expect that in relation to the guaranteed price of US$0.10 per kilogram, the purchase price of wheat could amount to US$0.01, which, I believe, would satisfy our producers", he said. (hina) rml