The rise in prices of dairy products does not stop.
Another dairy processing plant from today has increased prices by 9 to 11% of yogurt, sheep cheese and cow's.
The administrator of a dairy processing plant in the village of Nizhavec in the Pogradec district told "Monitor" that in February prices increased by 5% due to rising oil prices and uncertainty in the supply of raw materials created by the start of the Russia-Ukraine war. .
The second price increase that started on April 25 is due to the increase in the price of sheep and cow milk by farmers. After April 1, the supply of sheep milk from 95 lekë with VAT is being bought from farmers 130 lekë per liter (increase 36.8%) and opa from 48 lekë is being bought 60 lekë per liter (increase 25%). Many farms in the area are on the verge of bankruptcy.
According to the company representative, this year the farmers are finding it very difficult to find milk, as many of them are leaving to work in Germany, as the increase in food prices has made it inconvenient to keep livestock.
Processors reiterate their demand for a refund of milk per liter produced by the farmer and not per head of livestock, as provided for in the national agriculture scheme after the abolition of the 6% creditable VAT.
The increase of costs from the increase of farmers' milk, after the abolition of the VAT refund scheme from January 1, 2021, the increase of the price of energy, oil, plastic is reflected with the increase of the price in other market operators. In mid-April another company raised dairy prices, following the rise in March. The rise in prices has started since July 2021 when operators began to suffer the rise in the price of plastics and energy from the liberalized market.