TIRANA – Albania will receive a grant of 93 million euros in EU pre-accession funds for agriculture, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said on Thursday.
The grant of 93 million euros under the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in Rural Development, IPARD II, will be injected to support investment projects in the country’s rural areas and give a fresh impetus to agriculture and rural development in Albania.
The IPARD grant for Albania could be greenlighted during the first half of the next year. This was confirmed during meetings the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Niko Peleshi held with EU Commissioners in the framework of his one-day visit to Brussels.
During his visit to Brussels, Agriculture Minister met with the European Commissioner for Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Karmenu Vella, the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukatis, and other officials at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development.
One of the most interesting topics for the Albanian side during these meetings was the opening of the IPARD II program.
After the audit carried out by the European Commission on the capacities and implementing structures of the IPARD II program in our country, green light is expected in the first half of next year.
Talks also focused on EU assistance in improving Albanian legislation on food safety, farming registry and increase of fishing quotas for our country.