The Government will support winegrowers in the Demarcated Region of Douro with 12 million euros who cannot sell the grapes from this harvest, as a response to the crisis affecting the sector. The decision was announced by the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, at a press conference after the Council of Ministers meeting.
This is a one-off measure for this year and, this time, there will be no recourse to distillation as an extraordinary measure, as happened in previous years. It is a support for the non-sale of production in a maximum amount of 12 million euros.
The amount will be attributed directly to each winegrower, and should be around 50 cents per kilogram of unsold grapes, calculated per hectare and using the support model from last year as a reference. The concrete formula, eligibility conditions, and sanctions for any non-compliance will be defined later by ministerial decree. The Institute of Wines of Douro and Porto (IVDP) will execute the measure and pay the producers.
The minister also stated that the future solution involves creating a permanent fund that seeks to help manage these fluctuations and difficulties in the market. This measure comes a day after the Minister of Agriculture announced a new 100 million euro treasury credit line for companies and cooperatives so they can pay producers for the grapes.
