Vuckovic: We will help all the farmers

Agriculture Minister Marija Vuckovic said on Wednesday that the state would help all the farmers in the area affected by Tuesday's earthquake to restart their production.

She said that the ministry's advisory services had already begun registering all the farms affected, noting that there were about 6,000 farms in Sisak-Moslavina County.

"We have preliminary data that some farms have been damaged, particularly pig breeders. Some forest management units have been affected, particularly in Glina," Vuckovic said ahead of a cabinet meeting and added that it was necessary now to precisely assess the damage.

"We have some measures at our disposal, particularly from the Rural Development Programme, and measures related to renewing production potential. Last night we analysed the criteria and rules, and we will try and expedite the procedure as much as possible. We have one current call for applications and others are to be advertised," said Vuckovic.

She added that the state would help everyone, including those people who do not wish to leave the area and their homes.

The Hrvatske Sume forest management company has opened its facilities and the state will see to people's safety, she said.

The epicentre of the devastating earthquake that rocked Croatia at 12.20 pm on Tuesday was in Petrinja, some 60 kilometres southeast of Zagreb.

The earthquake, measuring 6.3 on the Richter scale, occurred at a depth of 10 kilometres, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) reported on its web site, adding that it could be felt by six million people in Croatia and neighbouring countries.

Text: HINA

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