Cyprus has unveiled a €28 million relief package for farmers hit by the foot-and-mouth outbreak, as the country’s senior veterinary officer warned that farmers obstructing culling operations face having their animals slaughtered without compensation.
Agriculture Minister Maria Panayiotou, whose proposal was adopted by Cabinet, said the package combines €24.5 million in new measures with the €3.5 million advance already approved on 5 March. Of the total, €21 million is co-funded by Brussels.
President Nikos Christodoulides said the government’s goal was not only to compensate farmers for their losses but to ensure the full reactivation of their units. The plan is built around three axes: immediate relief, income loss coverage and herd restocking.
The first axis covers compensation of €2.6 million for destroyed stock — including feed, hay and animal products — to be paid within 15 days of invoice submission. The second provides income loss support of €7.5 million over 12 months, with advances disbursed in March and full payments from April based on actual income data including tax returns and milk delivery records.
The third axis is a €7.4 million restocking scheme giving affected farmers the option of receiving replacement animals rather than cash, with the Ministry taking responsibility for sourcing livestock from disease-free areas abroad or from domestic units, including from the Agricultural Research Institute’s genetically improved stock.
Beyond the three core axes, a further €3.5 million — on top of the €2 million already approved on 5 March — will cover consumables, reagents, vaccines for pigs and ruminants and private sector contracting. Farmers affected by the grazing ban will receive €18.9 per decare, with total spending on this measure not expected to exceed €500,000. Rent and fee exemptions on livestock plots on state or Turkish Cypriot land for 2026 are capped at €10,000 in total. A €1 million biosecurity investment scheme, aimed at upgrading units to prevent future outbreaks, rounds out the package.
A separate €2 million has been set aside for farmers with healthy animals who have nonetheless suffered commercial losses due to their location within protection or surveillance zones. Steps are also being taken with the European Commission to activate a private storage measure for pig farmers affected by export restrictions.
The figures are based on the first 38 confirmed cases up to 15 March. Three new cases were confirmed the following day, including the first two in Nicosia district — a cattle farm with 70 cows in Geri and a livestock trader’s farm with approximately 1,700 goats and sheep in Dali — bringing the island-wide total to 41. The compensation figures are expected to be revised upward as the outbreak develops.
Senior veterinary officer Soteria Georgiadou, who announced the new protection and surveillance zones around the affected areas, said the spread to Geri and Dali was due to the movement of infected animals in the preceding period or proximity to already-infected premises.
Georgiadou said Veterinary Services were facing harassment and a lack of cooperation from some farmers, with weekend culling operations only made possible with a police escort. She warned that if resistance continued, authorities would invoke legislation allowing them to enter farms and carry out cullings without any compensation. “We don’t want this, but we have reached the end of our tether,” she said.
Authorities have confirmed that animals were being illegally moved for slaughter or sale from as early as January, before the outbreak was officially declared. Georgiadou described as unacceptable the sight of farmers gathering in large numbers outside infected zones such as Aradippou, risking carrying the virus on their clothing or vehicles.
Cyprus is submitting weekly reports to the European Commission and is under close scrutiny from Brussels. Georgiadou said delays in culling due to farmer resistance had already caused concern at EU level, with pork and semen exports already frozen and the future of halloumi exports uncertain. “Commissioner Várhelyi and the entire European Community can see what is happening in Cyprus and are aware that we have not carried out cullings as we should have under the provisions of the legislation — so you can understand that none of this is in our interest,” she said.
The outbreak began on 19 February 2026 in government-controlled areas. Due to the highly contagious nature of the disease, authorities imposed mandatory movement restrictions, isolation measures, culling and destruction of stocks including feed, hay and other consumables at affected holdings, bringing productive activity at those units to a complete halt.
A Special Scientific Committee headed by Stavros Malas has been established to draw up a ten-year strategic plan for modernising the Cypriot livestock sector and making it more resilient to future crises. The committee, which includes scientists, farmers and representatives of the Agriculture and Interior Ministries and farming organisations, is required to submit its recommendations within three months.
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