site.btaAgriculture Minister Tahov Says Farmers Will Receive BGN 325 Mln in State Aid for Second Half of 2024

Speaking at a meeting with representatives of organizations from the agricultural sector here on Monday, caretaker Agriculture and Food Minister Georgi Tahov said that farmers will receive BGN 325 million in state aid for the second half of the year under the February agreement aimed at addressing the negative economic impact of the war in Ukraine, Tahov’s Ministry said in a press release.

Participants in the meeting discussed the deadlines for the disbursement of the second tranche of the aid for farmers and producers of grain and oilseed crops. The first tranche amounting to nearly BGN 300 million was disbursed in May.

Tahov was adamant that as a result of the dialogue with the Finance Ministry, the farmers would receive the full amount of the aid envisaged in the agreement reached between the Government and branch organizations even though the necessary funding had not been included in the national budget.

The Minister said that following the Cabinet’s approval of an additional BGN 200 million for the State Fund Agriculture budget for 2024, his Ministry is ready to disburse the funding once it is given the green light by Brussels. The remainder of BGN 125 million will be allocated to farmers by the end of November.

Tahov briefed the branch organizations on the actions taken by his Ministry to increase irrigated agricultural areas. The meeting was also attended by Deputy Ministers of Agriculture and Food Yanislav Yanchev and Ivan Kapitanov and State Fund Agriculture (SFA) Executive Director Iva Ivanova.

In the meantime, the SFA Board of Directors voted to provide farmers with financial support of BGN 200 million. BGN 100 million will be paid to support farmers in primary agricultural production and producers of fruit and vegetables, oil rose, vines and tobacco. Producers of cereals and oilseeds will also receive BGN 100 million.