We have clearly told farmers' representatives that the government will not increase the budget deficit because of their demands and that they cannot expect the budget to be revised to secure funds for meeting their demands, said Minister Linic.
If there is a budget revision, it will be to reduce and not to increase, he added. He said it would be difficult in 2014 to maintain the current Croatian component for subsidies.
A debt of HRK 190 billion has been created and it has to be repaid with interest, in which situation taxpayers cannot set aside for agriculture as they have until now, Linic said, adding that farmers should take part in the consolidation of state finances.
"Farmers can't expect higher funds from the budget," Linic said, adding that the road blocks would not make the government change its policy in this regard.
Minister Jakovina said the state's obligations towards farmers for 2012 were paid in full and that HRK 2.4 billion was paid this year, adding that claims about hundreds of millions of kuna owed were false.
He said the state would help farmers by rescheduling existing liabilities and through new credit lines for the spring sowing. He said administrative checks would be made in line with a model in force in the European Union so that all farmers would know at the end of the year how much they were entitled to in subsidies.
Jakovina reiterated that protests were a legitimate right to express dissatisfaction but that blockades, blackmail and pressures were not.
Asked about demands for his resignation, he said the percentage of money drawn from the EU's rural development fund would show how successful he and the Agriculture Ministry were. He added that he would not resign because of demands from individuals.
Croatian Agricultural Chamber president Matija Brlosic said Linic said there was no money and that the Chamber would ask Prime Minister Zoran Milanovic and President Ivo Josipovic for help. He added that for the first time in Croatian history, farmers had received nothing in negotiations.
Farmers' representative Zvonko Pipic said the protesting farmers would step up the road blocks. "We are going for a total blockade," he said, adding that farmers today were unable to reach an agreement either with buyers unwilling to raise the wheat price.
Pipic said he believed there was money, but not for farmers. "We won't give up. We want to meet with the prime minister and the president. Perhaps they will understand.
Asked if the borders would be blocked, he said that too was possible.
Farmers seek the payment of more than HRK 450 million in late subsidies and a correction of the purchase price for wheat, insisting it should not be under HRK 1.38 per kilogram, the wheat price in 2012. Pipic said buyers claimed that even HRK 1.05 per kilogram was too much.
They also insisted that Milanovic attend today's meeting alongside Jakovina and Linic, threatening a general blockade of roads otherwise. Farmers have been protesting in a number of counties since Wednesday.
The president of the SHS farmers' trade union, Tomislav Pokrovac, told Hina that "Minister Linic let us know during the talks that as far as he is concerned, we can all die, but we won't get money from him."
He said about 300 disgruntled farmers with as many tractors were protesting at 11 locations in Vukovar-Srijem County, adding that the road blocks would continue.
The president of the ZUSSB association of farmers from the Slavonia and Baranja region, Antun Laslo, told Hina too the protests would continue and that might block border crossings.
He hoped the prime minister would now become involved, saying the "situation is really serious" because farmers could not pay the basic costs, such as farmland leases and pension and health insurance. "Evidently, agriculture and farmers are unimportant for this government."
(EUR 1 = HRK 7.5)