site.btaMinister Groudev: Agriculture Ministry's Current Deficit Stands at Lv 60 Mln

ESD 16:57:31 03-09-2014
PP1657ES.124
124 POLITICS-AGRICULTURE-MINISTER

Minister Groudev:
Agriculture Ministry's
Current Deficit Stands at Lv 60 Mln


Sofia, September 3 (BTA) - Speaking at a news conference after
Wednesday government meeting, Agriculture Minister Vassil
Groudev said that the current deficit of the Agriculture
Ministry stands at 60 million leva. It does not concern a
shortage of funds needed for implementing policies in the
agricultural sector, including national co-payments. Of the 365
million leva that are required, 260 million leva have been
budgeted. Livestock breeders are yet to receive 85 million leva
against the backdrop of a bluetongue outbreak, said Groudev.

The Minister said that farmers will receive 1.4 million leva in
compensation for animals that died of bluetongue at market
prices. Another 500,000 leva, approved by the government on
Wednesday, will go towards disinfection of areas and animals to
contain the outbreak. Compensation should be paid out within 6
weeks.

Groudev said that animals will be vaccinated when winter ends. A
partial vaccination campaign is not recommended as it may cause
more harm.

The Agriculture Minister said that as early as May Greece had
reported that a bluetongue outbreak was spreading towards
Bulgaria and Bulgaria's first bluetongue case was confirmed in
Haskovo Region on June 30. By August 6, 20 regions have been
affected by the disease, with 6,500 dead livestock. The Food
Safety Agency has received 2.3 million leva to tackle the
disease.

The net target for payments under the Rural Development
Programme until the end of 2014 amounts to 397 million euro,
Groudev recalled. As at August 1, however, the paid resources
were only 50 million euro, and 347 million euro could be lost
unless absorbed by the year's end. The minister said firmly that
there is no way the net target can be met and currently there
is a risk of loosing 78 million euro under the Rural Development
Programme.

Groudev also talked about another problem: since October 16,
2013 State Fund Agriculture has not had the obligatory
certifying authority, which has to certify all payments under
the various funds. For over a year three public procurement
procedures have failed and have been re-submitted by the
Agriculture Ministry in the same form and with the same
requirements, despite the fact that they have been rejected by
the Commission for Protection of Competition. This threatens the
resumption by the European Commission of all resources paid
from October 16, 2013 to present, which exceed 1.5 billion leva,
Groudev said. VI/PP, DS