SAPARD disbursement gaining speed

At the sprawling AgroBalt 2002 Exhibition, visitors can find displays of cattle, farm equipment as well as dozens of food manufacturers handing out free samples of bread, crab sticks and juices. Qualified Lithuanian farmers and businesses in attendance, though, could also receive information about something much more valuable – money.

In the past year, the three Baltic states have completed an accreditation process with the European Union's Special pre-Accession Program for Agriculture and Rural Development (SAPARD). In broad terms, SAPARD's purpose is to prepare the agricultural sector and rural areas in candidate countries for EU membership.

"I think our funding helps farmers to become more competitive in the future with EU countries," said Evaldas Cijauskas, director of the Lithuanian Natio-nal Payment Agency. The agency is under the auspices of the Agricul-ture Ministry and it awards grants to approved SAPARD applicants.

Under the SAPARD program, a qualified applicant of a revenue-generating project would receive 50 percent funding for the initiative. Seventy-five percent of the grant would come from the European Union and 25 percent from the Lithuanian state budget. The applicant provides funding for the other 50 percent of the project. Until 2006, Lithuania can expect annual investments totaling 30.3 million euros ($26.81 million) from the European Union. Latvia and Estonia have qualified for 22.2 million euros and 12.1 million euros, respectively.

Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas visited the SAPARD booth on the opening day of the AgroBalt fair to ask about the program's progress. Cijauskas said that during the first two calls for applications since December 2001, 121 projects were received.

After an initial slow beginning, now 100 percent of the funding from the year 2000 has been allocated. He also said 2001 funds would soon be available since an agreement with the European Union was signed last week.

In Lithuania there are presently five priority areas to which SAPARD funds can be assigned. They include investments in agricultural holdings, upgrading processing plants, investments in non-traditional activities (such as herbs and snail farming), rural infrastructure and vocational training.

Mindaugas Vilicinskas, head of the SAPARD department at the National Payment Agency, said, "A qualified project has to comply to national and European Union health and environmental standards, have a well prepared business plan, substantial private investments (either loans from banks or already be a stable company), and the applicant has to be prepared to submit the proposal on time."

He said this year, "the largest investments were made in slaughterhouses located in Tauruge, Kaunas and Panevezys. The money will be allocated to build new facilities or additional buildings."

It is an important investment because at present, "only three facilities in Lithuania are approved to export meat to EU countries, and after the new buildings are finished, six firms will qualify."

Cijauskas said that this year the three areas of focus were on meat and milk production as well as cultivation of fruit and vegetables. He also commented on the future.

"Lithuania must also find alternative products and after a year it will be the main focus – initiatives such as berries and mushrooms cultivation and fish hatcheries."

The National Payment Agency continues to promote the availability of SAPARD funds by holding seminars across Lithuania and through its Web site, www.nma.lt.

"We have received many applications and many applicants come to our agency," Cijauskas said. "It's difficult to predict the number of applications in the future."

But, he also said the number of proposals from all over Lithuania increased each time they called for new project applications.