Hungarian farmers have staged protests in Budapest demanding the payments of overdue EU agricultural subsidies. The country’s government claims more than three out of four farmers have received their payments, while only a minority is still waiting for disbursements.

Agriculture Minister Imre Nemeth has, however, admitted that the ministry should work faster in processing applications and expressed his dissatisfaction with the agency in charge of disbursing the funds. The EU pays 70% of the land aid while the Hungarian government is responsible for the rest. The government has until April to pay out the land subsidies.

Land subsidies, worth Ft230 billion ($1.23 billion) so far, have reportedly been granted to 160,000 of the registered 208,000 agricultural workers in Hungary. The other disbursements have been held back, says the ministry, because one out of four applications filed were incorrect or the cultivated land was overstated.

Another sticking point between farmers and government is the intervention price, the price at which the European Commission guarantees to buy products from farmers. Farmers say they have nowhere to store their grains until May when the purchase is made and have to sell at lower prices.

The protests coincided with the signing of a cooperation agreement between the ministry of agriculture and rural development and four leading agricultural associations in Hungary concerning the joint representation of Hungarian farmers' interests in the EU. Hungary joined the EU in May last year.

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