EU hits Greece with record fine over farmers subsidy fraud
(Reuters) -The European Union has imposed a 392.2 million-euro ($451.9 million) fine on Greece over a major scandal involving the mismanagement of agricultural subsidies by a government agency between 2016 and 2022.
The bloc's Executive Commission decided to reduce the subsidies Greece will receive in the next years by 5%, it said on Friday, reflecting the view that there has been no proper supervision and operation of the subsidy management model for years.
Greece expected to receive about 1.9 billion euros in direct EU subsidies next year.
The fine comes months after European prosecutors charged dozens of Greek livestock farmers who received EU financial aid through the Greek government paying agency OPEKEPE with making false declarations of ownership or leasing of pastureland.
The European Public Prosecutor's Office has said that the majority of the 100 suspects did not live where they had declared in their applications for funds from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.
Greece last month promised to overhaul OPEKEPE, in charge of paying out annual subsidies to farmers worth about 2.4 billion euros, by merging it into the country tax authorities, with international consultants assisting in the transition.
($1 = 0.8678 euro)
(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou in Athens; Writing by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
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