site.btaBeekepers Appeal for Urgent Adoption of State Regulation of Direct Subsidies

December 12 (BTA) - Low buy-out prices, problems with the
 health of bee colonies because of the lack of adequate control
and prophylactic checks on the part of the Bulgarian Food Safety
 Agency, as well as poisoning of the bees with pesticides are
the greatest challenges faced by the branch, the Chairman of
Sofia's Beekeper Union chapter, Mihail Mihailov, told a
BTA-hosted news conference on Thursday.

Earlier in the day, Mihailov submitted a request for subsidies
with registered hives at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and
Forestry. In his words, direct subsidy by the State is needed
urgently as the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) has
"cornered Bulgaria in a green architecture" that does not allow
direct support and that has to come from the State itself.

The prices of Bulgarian honey have hit the bottom of 3.00 to
3.20 leva/kg wholesale due to the import of Ukrainian honey,
whose indicators are similar to the Bulgarian ones because of
the geographic location. In comparison, the prices in Romania,
Greece and Turkey vary from 10 to 12 leva a kilo and more,
Mihailov said. One of the reasons for this is the Mercosur trade
 bloc agreement with the European Commission that provides for
duty-free imports to the EU of honey from what is officially the
 Southern Common Market. According to the specialist, this means
 that the markets for Bulgarian honey will be closed entirely
because the prices at which Southern American honey will come
are exceedingly low.

Bulgaria produces about 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of honey a year,
 ranking it in the middle among EU countries. Hungary produces
20,000 tonnes of honey a year, Greece between 15,000 and 20,000
tonnes, and Slovenia between 1,000 and 5,000 tonnes.

Low consumption is the problem in Bulgaria, ranging from the
mere 250 grammes to a maximum of 450 grammes per capita a year,
unlike countries like Greece and Germany, among others, which
consume nearly all the honey they produce and thereby raise
buy-out prices.

The reason for the problems in the branch also include the lack
of an association, the branch itself being divided between 17
separate organisations. Another new union of some 30 municipal
associations is also on the way of being established, Mihailov
said.

Bulgaria traditionally exports two-thirds (7,000-8,000 tonnes)
of honey, while one-fourth remains for domestic consumption.
ZH/BR