Greek Agricultural Insurance Organization

By August 21, the platform for support measures for fire victims in Attica will be open, said Deputy Minister of Climate Crisis and Civil Protection, Christos Triantopoulos, on Wednesday morning.

Changes will be introduced to the legislative framework governing the operation of the Greek Agricultural Insurance Organization (ELGA) to allow private companies access to the sector's insurance system, according to Agriculture and Food Minister Makis Voridis.

A destructive combination excessive rainfall and extremes of heat and cold has caused tremendous damage to many crops across Greece this summer. "How can the trees handle temperatures going from 40 degrees Celsius down to 14C within just two days? We have air conditioning - they don't," the president of the Imathia Farmers' Cooperative, Christos Giannakakis, said to Kathimerini.

A consortium of agricultural cooperatives in Imathia, northern Greece, is threatening to sue the authority responsible for determining compensation payments to farmers who have suffered crop damage because of adverse weather.

The Greek Agricultural Insurance Organization (ELGA) is expected to disburse the sum of 3 million euros in compensation to 3,283 agricultural producers on Friday.

The funds are being distributed for damage incurred in 2013 and 2014.