Thousands of people protested against a poultry mega-farm project in Croatia’s Sisak-Moslavina region, warning it would bring health and environmental devastation to local communities. The project envisions nearly 20 industrial sites in areas adjacent to nature parks and regions affected by deindustrialization. For months, a coalition of local initiatives and climate justice groups has contested the plan, while national authorities have evaded calls for action.
The plan is associated with Ukrainian businessmen Andriy Matiukha and Yuriy Kosiuk, whose existing endeavors have impacted the European poultry market and been linked to environmental destruction in Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region. Apparently, the two have found what they consider ideal spots for building operations near Sisak, formerly one of Yugoslavia’s industrial heartlands. Reports warn that the aim of the project is to build capacities producing at least 150,000 tons of chicken meat annually, primarily for export. In comparison, Croatian poultry farmers produce about 75,000 tons annually, covering three-quarters of national needs – in a country notorious for reliance on food imports.
Campaigners emphasize the implementation of the project would thus only worsen the situation, undermining local food production and livelihoods. “This is a total change of concept – existing production, relying on domestic subcontractors, mostly small family farms, would be replaced by megalomaniac plants belonging to foreign investors, which can, without exaggeration, be described as an industry of death,” said Dora Sivka, from Green Action – Friends of the Earth Croatia, at the protest.
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Residents affected by the plans are concerned about the amount of energy and water the industrial sites would require, surpassing the consumption of nearby communities and threatening riverflows. Even as it is, some towns and villages on the investors’ map lack adequate public infrastructure, raising questions about the disposal of wastewater and farm by-product. There has also been no clarification on how continuous exposure would impact public health. “Compared to traditional farming, intensive poultry farming has a very adverse impact on soil, air and water,” Jasna Šumanovac from Green Action warned on several occasions earlier in the campaign.
Over 120 organizations supported the most recent protest against the mega-farm project in Zagreb on February 21, but the government has yet to provide concrete answers to the initiative’s demands. These include reassessing the project’s environmental footprint: campaigners warn investors have attempted to underestimate this by claiming several disconnected interventions, when in reality they would be interconnected and have combined impacts on the region.
Criticism was also voiced regarding claims that the project would create new jobs in a region where the industrial workforce was decimated during transition to capitalism. Participants at the protest emphasized that employers will rely on migrant workers to keep the farms running, adding to labor exploitation risks.
In addition to regional concerns, local groups and campaigners warn that if implemented, the poultry mega-farm project would only open the door to more export-oriented ventures, effectively transforming the whole country into an extractive colony for foreign businesses.
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