This year 350 producers are expected to produce about 600,000 tonnes of sugar beet, which will yield about 85,000 tonnes of sugar, which is nearly enough to meet domestic needs.

This information was presented at a meeting between Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic and representatives of the sugar industry in the eastern town of Zupanja on Tuesday.

According to Zeljko Zadro, Chairman of the Management Board of the Croatian Sugar Industry, there will be virtually no yield on about 450 hectares because the crops were ruined by bad weather. He said that at the Zupanja sugar factory processing began last week and would last until the end of the year.

The factory will pay producers €43 per tonne of sugar beet.

Minister Vuckovic said that the participants in the meeting welcomed the new multi-annual support programme for sugar beet producers, which was just put to public consultation.

Asked by the press if she was considering a possibility of discussing prices with producers, as the government did with retailers, she said that prices fell within the remit of the Economy Ministry and that she was discussing various topics with producers on a daily basis.

Commenting on the outbreak of African Swine Fever, Vuckovic said that over 15,000 pigs had been euthanised to date at more than 700 farms.