News Agricultural transition
'Rabobank does not have to write off loans'
Rabobank contests that the bank has to write off loans due to the transition to circular agriculture. Last week, MPs Joris Thijssen (PvdA) and Tjeerd de Groot (D66) argued strongly against Rabobank and the financing of the Thijssen: "He has a lot of loans that I think they will not recoup. Are we going to help Rabobank with that 25 billion?"
In a written response, the bank responds to Boerenbusiness: "Rabobank only finances if there is a feasible revenue model. When you talk about writing off loans, this implies that they are bad loans. That is not the case. Investments are based on a thorough profitability calculation and are always aimed at improving or making done a business."
'Continue investing in the current agricultural model'
De Groot (D66) said during the debate: "Even after the previous cabinet said in 2018 that the current model is no longer tenable, they continue to invest in the current model - albeit with stricter conditions - to this day. agricultural model." According to the D66 MP, that is unacceptable. "Shouldn't we ask Rabobank for a solidarity contribution?" asked De Groot, who also indicated that he had called the bank a 'bad bank' in the past, but that this was 'perhaps going a bit too far'. Thijssen said he might want to use that term if De Groot no longer wanted to do so.
About Thijssen's vision - that the €25 billion fund will help Rabobank - the bank writes in the statement: "Let's assume that it is good that the government makes money available to accelerate the transition. The fund helps farmers to stop, make more sustainable or move and that is necessary. The idea that we would earn money or would have been helped with the fund is incorrect. We are a bank and earn our money by lending money. If a loan is repaid in one go, the bank no longer plays a role. The fund is part of the role that the government is taking and we are fulfilling our role by putting millions into the various funds, partnerships and initiatives that contribute to the transformation to a future-proof, more sustainable F&A sector."
Why has the bank continued, as De Groot puts it, to finance a model that is no longer tenable? "The government, but also we as a bank, have made choices in the past based on the situation at the time and we assess them with the knowledge of today. You also finance with the knowledge of the situation at that time. Rabobank has been working for years. with sustainability criteria for entrepreneurs and always adheres to the prescribed laws and regulations, so we only finance if the government also issues a permit."
Guilty?
CDA MP Derk Boswijk believes that Rabobank cannot be blamed. He pointed to a PBL report from 2008 or 2009 that he received from MP Thom van Campen (VVD) 'in which certain scenarios were suggested about the agricultural sector'. "We as politicians, my party, but also the party of a colleague from the PvdA, have made policy on this. Despite the fact that we knew that it might go wrong. So we are just as guilty as, for example, a Rabobank. I don't think it helps if we describe people as 'bad bank' or whatever, that it's all hands on deck and that we just need each other.And yes, I also think that Rabobank, but everyone should take their responsibility "That is also stated in the coalition agreement. Putting away certain people, whether that is a farmer, a supermarket, a bank, or another political party, will not help us any further."
VVD member Van Campen also thought it went too far: "I agree with Mr Thijssen that we can ask for a contribution from the sector. Banks are also part of this, not just Rabobank. Everyone must bear their responsibility, but we are those with each other that determine the playing field in which the business community and society operates and moves in. And then as far as I am concerned it is appropriate to conduct the debate here with each other, and not to drag in parties that cannot defend themselves in this debate."
When asked whether it is 'guilty', Rabobank says: "There is no one to blame for the past. Everyone, including Rabobank, acted with the knowledge of the past and we assess with the knowledge of today. Rabobank takes responsibility for the future , for example with the hundreds of millions in the way to a more sustainable food and agri sector."
'By further accelerating the transition'
What is the bank's position on a 'solidarity contribution' as De Groot calls it? "We see that the sector has made great strides in the field of sustainability in recent years, but now we have to continue to accelerate the transition further. As Rabobank, we see it as our task to help customers transform, move or stop. We also invest hundreds of millions of euros in the transformation to a future-proof, more sustainable F&A sector, such as HOT (horticulture redevelopment), Coviva, the Asbestos Fund (together with Univé and Greenchoice we replace asbestos roofs with roofs with solar panels), interest discounts in the dairy farming for sustainable frontrunners, impact loans. In addition, we also invest millions in knowledge and research and we work together with our large network. In this way we take responsibility for the future and work on a future-proof sector."
The bank concludes with: "The Netherlands has the most innovative and productive farmers in the world. We are proud of that as a bank. At the same time, this productivity also has a downside: impact on the climate and nature. There is no question that we have to get to work. making the sector more sustainable. A sustainable agricultural sector stands and falls with a fair revenue model. Only then will the transition accelerate. We do not want a farmer to go green and then turn red: the return on investments will also accelerate the transition, because In this way there is more room for maneuver for further investments in the transition. But not all investments can immediately be valuated by farmers. This requires a contribution from the government and as a bank we do this too."
The ministers did not explicitly address the comments about Rabobank in their answers. Minister Staghouwer (ChristenUnie) did, however, say that he will call on and approach chain parties to make agreements. "With binding chain agreements, for example, agreements can be made - also with Rabobank and other partners - about providing insight into sustainability requirements, margin allocation between the various links, distribution of risks, or the supply of sustainable products." He also stated that the bank is affiliated with agreements that he makes with the pig chain in that regard.
Linda van Eekeres
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