Croatia has enough sugar to meet its own needs, so there is no need for panic buying, the state secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture, Tugomir Majdak, said at a Golden Beet Awards ceremony in the eastern city of Osijek on Tuesday.

Last year’s sugar production was 135,000 tonnes, with a higher yield than Europe’s. Ninety per cent of the planned area has been sown with sugar beet and all climate and technical conditions are favorable for a good yield this year, Majdak said, recalling that the Ministry has been helping sugar beet farmers with subsidies for years.

The three-year program provided for HRK 60 million in aid and a further 12 million will be provided under the new programme. A new crisis framework, which has taken into account the Ukraine conflict, will provide further support to sugar beet farmers and other farmers facing difficulties, he said.