The agri-food industry cannot be excluded from supporting companies with intensive gas consumption, the president of the Federation of Agri-food Industries of Portugal (FIPA), Jorge Tomás Henriques, defended this Tuesday at the 8th Congress of the Agri-food Industry of Portugal.
“The exponential increase in the cost of fuel, electricity and natural gas is endanger the sustainability of some of our businesses and jeopardize the maintenance of some operations”, said the president of FIPA, in the opening session of the meeting, which was attended by the Minister of Agriculture, Maria do Céu Antunes, and a video message from the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Souza.
Jorge Tomás Henriques said that it is “urgent to face this situation with serious measures” and defended that the agri-food industry cannot be excluded from support for so-called intensive consumers of natural gaswhose activity has been particularly affected by the high energy prices caused by the geopolitical crisis resulting from the war in Ukraine.
On the sidelines of the meeting, in statements to the press, the Minister of Agriculture confirmed that initially energy support for the agri-food industry was not planned, but that her ministry is working with the Ministry of Economy “to see if it is possible” to enjoy these benefits and this incentive to minimize the impact that energy consumption is currently having.
The President of the Republic, in his video message broadcast at the meeting, highlighted the fundamental role of the agri-food industry for the economy and for the life of the Portuguese and recognized that the last two and a half years have been difficult and that the current moment “is very difficult”, first because of the pandemic and then because of the repercussions of an indefinite time.
“The sector that is affected is the food sector, at all levels. Production costs, energy costs, imbalances that came from the end of the pandemic crisis”, he said, concluding his speech with a thank you, on behalf of all Portuguese, for the contribution of the agri-food industry in guaranteeing food in the country. .
Source: Observadora
