After three in-depth meetings between the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and protesting farmers, after three analytical and in-depth meetings with Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov, a fourth meeting was held on on Thursday, which ended very encouragingly, said Minister of Agriculture and Food Kiril Vatev during the Seeds of Success AGRI SUMMIT 2024 forum, organized by Forbes Bulgaria and Agri.bg, held on Friday at the Millennium Grand Hotel Sofia.
Minister Vatev explained that his Ministry's analysis has proven that the 2023 harvest was the most expensive for grain producers in the last ten years, as the collapse of prices on a global scale as a result of overproduction caused a drop in world exchanges and led to a significant loss for grain producers.
Vatev recalled that Bulgarian agriculture has three very sustainable sectors - grain production, poultry farming and pig farming. "All other sectors have been in a critical state for many years now. We do not want any of the above sectors to lose their resilience, so we are convinced that we must support them. It is not possible to cover the full amount of their losses, and to pay all of them, but we will definitely support the smallest ones," the Minister of Agriculture pointed out.
He expressed confidence that Friday's upcoming meeting with representatives of protesting farmers will end in success.
Vatev explained that his Ministry will offer agricultural producers a three-level modulation, which will involve more support for smaller agricultural producers and less for larger ones, with a certain ceiling.
"Today they have to confirm. They have this information, they should discuss it with their structures and come with a clear decision whether they approve or not," said Vatev, specifying that only the large enterprises will have to prove losses, the small ones (farms up to 300 hectares) will receive aid unconditionally.
Vatev explained that the proposal to prove losses does not concern one accounting year, since one accounting year covers 3 economic years (the previous, the current and the next). What the Ministry is interested in is proof for the losses of the harvest sown in 2022 and realized in 2023, the Minister explained to journalists regarding the demands of the protesting farmers this week.
Vatev also noted that in every first year of a programme period, things always start later due to many new requirements, which imply a new administrative burden, new regulatory requirements, writing regulations.
"You are all witnesses that when we entered this ministry at the beginning of June last year, there was nothing to start the campaign with, so it was delayed," stressed Vatev. He added that the proposal envisages to arrange the payments in such a way that the farmers will receive them when they need them.
When asked about the budget, the Minister indicated that the funds will be provided, and the amount will be clear on Friday afternoon.
/NZ/
news.modal.text
