site.btaNational Grain Producers Association Begins Indefinite Countrywide Protest Action on Feb. 6

The National Grain Producers Association (NGPA), representing and uniting a major part of the grain producers in Bulgaria, announced on Monday that it is declaring indefinite protest actions starting on February 6, Tuesday, at at 10 am.

Following a meeting on February 4 at the Council of Ministers between the sector and state authorities, the regional associations of the NGPA unanimously decided that the state's proposal was unsatisfactory and unacceptable, the statement said. The support methodology presented at the Council of Ministers lacks competent economic expertise, as the annual tax return for 2023 categorically cannot show the losses of farmers, which have been increasing over the last three years, the NGPA said.

The NGPA demands a review of the proposal for the distribution of aid and the budget, which would prevent mass bankruptcies in Bulgarian agriculture, and clear guarantees for legislative changes undertaken by the leaders of the parliamentary groups, which in turn will ensure the sustainability of the sector.

Attached to the statement is a map showing the points at which junctions across the country will be blocked between 10 am and noon. Farmers will be on the streets, and the time of protest action will increase with each passing day (except Saturday and Sunday, when no roads will be closed in the interest of citizens) until several demands are accepted.

The first demand is the inclusion of the main five crops in the grain sector (wheat, barley, maize, sunflower, rapeseed) in the state aid supporting the liquidity of farmers to overcome the negative economic impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine for 2024, without affecting support for the other sectors.

The other demands are: the implementation of legislative initiatives related to the improvement of the possibilities for carrying out agricultural activity; the assertion of a firm position for the protection of Bulgarian production in the renegotiation of the regulation on liberalised trade with Ukraine; the assertion at European level of the position for the real equalisation of subsidies and support for European producers.