VILNIUS 's The Agriculture Ministry said on Aug. 1 it would propose that the Cabinet declare Lithuania a natural disaster zone after a particularly harsh drought caused some 600 million litas (174 million euros) in damage to farmers' crops and businesses. The ministry said it would make the proposal to the state emergency situations commission.
If listed as a natural disaster zone, Lithuania could apply for emergency aid from the European Commission.
Rimantas Krasuckis, director of the Agriculture Ministry's common market organization department, was quoted in a press release as saying, "Upon assessing the current situation and data presented by the hydro-meteorological service, our task is to formulate a request to the state commission on emergency situations to propose that the prime minister [Gediminas Kirkilas 's TBT] list Lithuania as a natural disaster zone."
The government said on Aug. 1 that it would allocate some 200 million litas in disaster relief to farmers hit by the drought.
Prime Minister Kirkilas said that the Cabinet would decide on Aug. 3 whether to declare a drought emergency in the country.
Estimates vary on the exact size of the damages, which will not be clear until the harvest season.
The Lithuanian Agriculture Institute has estimated that, due to the lack of precipitation, this year's grain harvest could be 15 's 22 percent lower than last year's.
