site.btaAverage Direct Payment to Bulgarian Farmers Approximates 90 Per Cent of EU Average, Deputy PM Donchev Says

Average Direct Payment to Bulgarian Farmers Approximates 90 Per Cent of EU Average,
Deputy PM Donchev Says


Sofia, January 16 (BTA) - The average amount of the direct
payment to farmers in Bulgaria is very close to 90 per cent of
the average payment in the EU, Bulgarian Deputy Prime Minister
for EU Funds and Economic Policy Tomislav Donchev said here on
Friday, addressing Parliament during Question Time.

Payments are lower in nine EU Member States and higher in Malta
and the Netherlands, because of the amount of available land.

For the new programming period (2014-2020), Bulgaria will get
7,000 million euro for direct payments, nearly 2,000 million
euro more than for the previous programming period (2007-2013).
Larger subsidies will be available to stockbreeders, fruit and
vegetable growers. The proportion will now reach 13 per cent of
the common financing, up from 3.5 per cent for the previous
programming period, Donchev pointed out.

According to the financing model, the amount of the common
financing increases annually, starting from 25 per cent of the
amount of the common payments in the first year and coming up to
70 per cent during the seventh year of implementation. This
amount will reach 100 per cent for Bulgaria in 2016.

The direct payment schemes show a high absorption rate: over 99
per cent in 2013, the Deputy PM said. The area declared under
this scheme had been increasing annually, from 3.3 million
hectares at the beginning to 3.7 million hectares in 2013.

He laid a special emphasis on the introduction of staggered
support in Bulgaria: intensive aid for the first 30 hectares of
the farm and gradual decrease, so as to prevent large owners and
tenants from taking the bulk of the money. According to
Donchev, small farmers must associate in order to improve their
competitiveness.