What was supposed to be an opportunity to revitalize Sardinian olive growing is now turning into a financial trap for businesses. The Sardinian Olive Oil Mill Association and Foa Italia (Associated Olive Oil Mills) report that Sardinia is the only Italian region not to have disbursed a single euro under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP) call for the modernization of olive oil mills . Despite the commitment of companies, which have been participating in the measure since 2024 to innovate processes and improve the quality of extra virgin olive oil, the administrative machinery is at a standstill. Of 24 applications submitted, 18 have been approved and funded, with allocated resources totaling €1,435,460.49 (out of a total available budget of over €2.8 million). However, to date, no disbursement has been made by Argea Sardegna, neither for progress reports nor for final payments.
"Short Circuit" – "We find ourselves in a dramatic and paradoxical situation," says Francesco Locci, president of the Sardinian Olive Oil Mill Association. "Our companies purchased the machinery, advanced almost the entire cost to the manufacturers, and then took out loans with the banks, starting to pay heavy interest. However, on the other side, all is quiet. The mills have been blocked for months, not due to technical problems but due to an inexplicable bureaucratic short circuit." Discussions initiated by the Association with the Department of Agriculture and Argea have yielded no results. "We have repeatedly expressed the beneficiaries' concerns," Locci continues. "We're talking about over a year of waiting for requests for progress reports and inspections. The most serious thing is that the companies are at risk of going bust, crushed by debts incurred for promised investments that were never repaid."
Red alert – For Michele Librandi, president of Foa Italia, "Sardinia's delay is unjustifiable. While almost all other regions have made payments and completed testing, allowing the sector to evolve, here we are stuck. At Foa Italia, we have pressed the Ministry of Agriculture, which in turn has requested explanations from the Sardinia Region without receiving any concrete answers. The risk now is lethal: if the process isn't unblocked immediately, once March 27, 2026, the funds will be revoked and the allocated sums will be recovered. This would be the final blow for the entire Sardinian olive oil sector."
(Unioneonline)
