Greece has released €617.4 million in agricultural subsidies to more than 1.1 million beneficiaries, pushing total farm payouts for the year past the €1 billion milestone — and ahead of schedule.
The payment, processed by the Independent Authority for Public Revenue (AADE), reached 529,494 individual taxpayers. Sustainability dominates the tranche, with €440.1 million earmarked for ecological programmes and €112 million for basic income support.
Minister of Rural Development and Food Margaritis Schinas called the disbursement proof of the government's commitment to farmers, pointing to the recent folding of the national payment agency OPEKEPE into AADE as the country's most consequential reform in progress.
"We are creating a modern, reliable, and transparent payment system with cross-checks, equal rules for all, and absolute accountability," Schinas said, insisting honest producers have nothing to fear — the overhaul, he added, is aimed squarely at those who once gamed the system's loopholes.
AADE Governor Giorgos Pitsilis said the agency remains firmly on track, with rigorous new audits ensuring EU funds reach only active, bona fide producers.
The reforms are already paying off. May and June payments alone topped initial projections by €101 million, hitting €802.4 million — a surplus officials credit to smarter use of EU regulatory flexibility, which delivered a 15% horizontal boost to basic income support without touching Greece's fixed EU funding envelope.
With June's release banked, total 2026 agricultural disbursements now stand at €1.061 billion — narrowly clearing the €1.060 billion target set for the first half of the year.
Final figures on remaining rural development payments are due by June 30.