Only grain producers who can prove a loss for 2023 will receive financial support, Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told a news briefing at the Council of Ministers on Sunday emerging from a meeting with representatives of branch organization.
He said that farmers should submit declarations to the National Revenue Agency by the end of February.
The representatives will meet with the branch organizations, will tell them about the support scheme and hopefully it will be accepted because it is reasonable, Denkov said.
The Prime Minister said that agricultural aid will be divided between two sub-sectors - one related to grain production and the other to milk, meat, fruit, vegetables, honey, oil rose, vineyards. Different approaches are proposed in both sub-sectors as there are specific characteristics, he added.
Of the second sector, Denkov said that BGN 150 million had been secured through restructuring of funds. According to him, the money will be distributed according to formulas that seem reasonable, and the support scheme will be presented to the organizations in this sector.
He said that funds available at the Agriculture Fund can be distributed as loans where emergency turnover capital is needed. Denkov stressed that only loss-making grain producers will be supported, whereas in the other sub-sectors all producers will be eligible.
The Prime Minister said that he is cancelling a visit to the US in order to stay in Bulgaria and complete the negotiations with the agricultural sector. "There is no way that I will go to another country, when grain producers are planning protests," he said.
We are yet to discuss with our organizations, and we will have a result tomorrow as to whether what is being proposed is acceptable to us, said Iliya Prodanov, Chairman of the National Association of Grain Producers.
He stressed that there is an understanding to speed up the process regarding the legislation.
He said that it is a matter of changes to many laws, including the law on the ownership and use of agricultural land, as the most urgent, as well as the laws on tenancy, branch organizations, the Agrarian Chamber, food trade, cooperatives. “There is a lot of work to be done there and I hope we will make some good changes so that we do not end up in this situation,” he added.
Asked about the amount with which the sector should be supported, Prodanov said that the amount is not as important as the mechanism, the rate and the eligible crops, he said. Approached whether he would ask for the resignation of the agriculture minister, Denkov said that political demands were not on the agenda. According to the Prime Minister, the meeting had discussed how to support the long-term development of the sector, which could be done through legislative changes that have been needed for ten years. "I made a commitment to move these changes forward as quickly as possible," Denkov said.
All funding will be provided through restructuring with the limits of the current budget, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister said that he is cancelling a visit to the US in order to stay in Bulgaria and complete the negotiations with the agricultural sector. "There is no way that I will go to another country, when grain producers are planning protests," he said.
We are yet to discuss with our organizations, and we will have a result tomorrow as to whether what is being proposed is acceptable to us, said Iliya Prodanov, Chairman of the National Association of Grain Producers.
He stressed that there is an understanding to speed up the process regarding the legislation.
He said that it is a matter of changes to many laws, including the law on the ownership and use of agricultural land, as the most urgent, as well as the laws on tenancy, branch organizations, the Agrarian Chamber, food trade, cooperatives. “There is a lot of work to be done there and I hope we will make some good changes so that we do not end up in this situation,” he added.
Asked about the amount with which the sector should be supported, Prodanov said that the amount is not as important as the mechanism, the rate and the eligible crops, he said.
