Abruzzo wine sector raises voice: “4 months after disaster status decree no disbursement”

A region among the hardest hit by the drop in production due to weather and downy mildew in 2023, Abruzzo wine has been in the forefront of demanding interventions and relief from the government, which had in fact announced and approved them. But “four months after the decree on the state of calamity for Abruzzo viticulture, in 2023 affected by the downy mildew that reduced grape production in Abruzzo by about 70% - more than double the national average - to the point of annihilating it in vast areas, there has been no disbursement of resources”. This is how the entire Abruzzo wine sector, represented, by Consorzio di Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo, Assoenologi, Cia-Agricoltori Abruzzo, Città del Vino, Coldiretti, Confagricoltura, Confcooperative, Copagri, Daq Vino d'Abruzzo, Fivi Abruzzo, Gva, Legacoop Abruzzo, Liberi Agricoltori Abruzzo and Movimento Turismo del Vino, addresses the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, to the Minister of Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, to the President of the Abruzzo Region, Marco Marsilio, to the Regional Councillor for Agriculture, Emanuele Imprudente, and to the Italian Banking Association (Abi), and, in the absence of responses by May 31, announces significant demonstrations for the coming days.
“It is good to point out that, for the survival of thousands of Abruzzo wineries, it is not only the allocation of resources that is crucial but also the certainty of the timing of disbursement”, comments Alessandro Nicodemi, president of the Consorzio di Tutela Vini d’Abruzzo. “Nothing has been done regarding the activation of the planned provisions”, states the document sent, among others, to Prime Minister Meloni, “for which there are only generic and non-exhaustive indications from the banking system that, in fact, place the companies concerned in the condition of not being able to access the expected compensation, with very serious consequences regarding the related debt exposures that, in the absence of immediate intervention, risk to pass within a few weeks in situations of “impaired credit exposures””.
Even today, while Agea, the Agricultural Disbursement Agency, and Inps, have activated specific desks for the submission of applications for capital grants and social security benefits, nothing has been done for the activation of loans, but more importantly, for the moratorium of outstanding loans, i.e., their suspension. The Abruzzo wine sector, therefore, asks to know the timing of the disbursement by Agea of capital grants, which are essential to provide adequate support to companies, how and when to activate loans and mortgage suspension, which are essential to prevent companies from moving into situations of “impaired credit exposures”, and finally, how and when to implement the measures taken by the Abruzzo Region, namely the timing of the disbursement of micro-loans by Fira Abruzzo related to the 2023 call (2.5 million euros), the modalities of use and timing for the disbursement of the resources made available for the year 2024 (2.5 million euros), and the modalities and timing for the disbursement of the resources provided by the regional stability law of 2024 (5.2 plus an additional 7.5 million euros).