István Nagy: the amount of the compensation fund has been increased

He explained that the year 2025 put Hungarian agriculture to the test, and various blows had to be dealt with, such as plant and animal diseases, early spring frosts, and drought. Farmers can count on the government in this situation as well – he stated. According to the minister, compensation for farmers for damages caused by weather will begin in mid-March, thanks to the increased amount, all approved claims for compensation will be settled, and the Hungarian State Treasury will allocate the money to the farmers who suffered the damage by the end of March. István Nagy spoke in his presentation about the fact that the commitment of economic development and investment support within the framework of the CAP Strategic Plan will exceed 1,000 billion forints by the end of March, this capital injection is the guarantee that Hungarian agriculture and the countryside will develop.

The head of the ministry emphasized that agricultural and rural development payments exceeded all previous expectations, with a total of 1,509 billion forints reaching farmers

This amount could be achieved because the support system worked more efficiently and faster than ever before, he said. István Nagy highlighted that Hungary closed the Rural Development Program at the end of 2025 without any loss of resources, the program mobilized a total of almost 3,000 billion forints, and almost 400,000 projects were implemented throughout the country. The Minister of Agriculture emphasized that a new era has begun with the CAP Strategic Plan. The new cycle has already started, with an even larger budget of more than 3,150 billion forints available in the second pillar supporting agricultural and rural development. More than half of this will be spent directly on economic development. Implementation is progressing well, with 65 calls for proposals published by the end of February, worth more than 1,700 billion forints. So far, 104,000 applications have been approved. According to him, the largest-scale developments are taking place at processing plants. So far, more than 300 large-scale investments have been approved, worth a total of 451 billion forints, and among applicants planning smaller and medium-sized developments, more than 600 plants can be developed, with almost 40 billion forints. More than 1,000 farms across the country have received support for the renovation of livestock farms, totaling about 68 billion forints, and horticultural farms have already been awarded more than 72 billion forints for the development of modern greenhouses, cold stores and processing technologies.

Among the measures introduced to increase efficiency, the minister highlighted that bureaucratic burdens are being removed from farmers’ shoulders

The 25 percent advance payment that can be requested for the investment can now be withdrawn immediately without proof of self-financing. This assistance also applies to applications that are already in progress. Of course, the self-financing must be completed by the end, he added. According to István Nagy, the dangers must also be seen: the European Commission would cut the agricultural budget by more than 20 percent at the EU level. In the case of Hungary, this would mean an even more serious reduction in resources of about 25 percent in the period between 2028 and 2034. This proposal is unacceptable, as it fundamentally threatens Hungarian agriculture. Hungary has consistently said no to these plans over the past seven months and will continue to protect the interests of Hungarian farmers by all means. The minister said that 2026 will be the year of construction in Hungarian agriculture. Developments and investments will be launched one after another, and by using the available resources, Hungarian agriculture and food industry will be on the podium in Europe by 2030. The 15-year construction has created a solid foundation for further development. Sándor Csányi, President of OTP Bank, spoke at the gala about the fact that wars have brought tension to the world economy, Hungary is also sensitive to the provision of energy supplies, and it is expected to face a permanent increase in energy prices. The emergence of various epidemics and the solution to irrigation continue to pose challenges for agriculture.

MTI