site.btaExpert: 80 Per Cent of Fruits, Vegetables Consumed in Bulgaria Are Imported

Expert: 80 Per Cent of  Fruits, Vegetables Consumed in Bulgaria Are Imported

Sofia, April 23 (BTA) - Eighty per cent of the fruits and
vegetables consumed in Bulgaria are imported because of the
sector's destruction, Mariana Miltenova, member of  the
Governing Council of the National Union of Gardeners in
Bulgaria, said in an interview for BTA.
  
The main problem in the sector of fruits and vegetables is its
purposeful destruction in the last 15 years and the sharp
downward trend in the produce, Miltenova explained. This is one
of the reasons why Bulgarian fruits and vegetables are
expensive, she added.
      
The EU subsidies are creating an imbalance between the
individual sectors and this redirects farmers to other produce,
mostly of grain, the expert said. Since 2007, the direct payment
 per area has favoured grain producers, who receive a subsidy
amounting to 27-28 per cent of the relative share of their
produce's prime cost, compared to 1.5 per cent in the case of
vegetables and 3 to 4 per cent in the case of fruits, Miltenova
noted. In her words, this is a policy which is conducted on
purpose in the name of the import and shady deals along the
borders and at customs, the non-payment of domestic VAT supplies
 of 20 per cent, etc.

According to Miltenova, the embargo with Russia causes
additional, mostly indirect losses for Bulgarian fruit and
vegetable producers, because the produce that the Netherlands,
Spain, Poland and Italy used to  sell directly to the Russian
market, now floods the Bulgarian market with considerable
quantities.
        
Greenhouse production is not cheep, this is where the largest
share of the produce's prime cost goes to energy carriers,
Miltenova went on to say. Colder weather leads to quite higher
expenses. The fight against pests and diseases in greenhouses is
 far more serious than the one in field crops, and the plant
protection preparations also increase the produce's cost, she
explained.
    
For the first time this year, there will be financial support
directly tied to production, which means some additional
resources will go to the sector of fruits and vegetables.
However, this money is far less than what the sector needs, the
expert said. A total of 200,000 people produce fruits and
vegetables in Bulgaria and allocating 10 or 15 million leva to
them is nothing, she argued. At the same time, the producers of
milk and animal products receive a subsidy of over 150 million
leva and tobacco producers 106 million leva, despite the fact
that they are less than 30,000 people. The comparison shows that
 the sector of fruits and vegetables is the less supported one,
Miltenova said.