Farmers’ protests stop! This was just announced by the chairman of the National Association of Grain Producers, Iliya Prodanov, right after the talks in Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov’s office ended.
The representatives of the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber and the executive power agreed on the sensitive points in the demands of the branch organizations.
Iliya Prodanov announced that 25,200 farms with up to 300 hectares from the Grain Production sector will receive unconditional support.
The remaining holdings will have to prove a loss on a simplified account to be assisted. The rate for the first 300 ha will be the highest. The one for holdings from 300 to 600 ha will be lower, and the lowest – over 600 hectares. Producers who cultivate up to 1000 ha will receive a subsidy. Additionally, an aid ceiling will be announced.
By Sunday inclusive, the agreement will be written by the producers and the Ministry of Agriculture, and on Monday it will be signed by the branch workers and the government.
Iliya Prodanov thanked all the farmers who joined the protest and the law enforcement authorities. He apologized to the Bulgarian citizens and businesses that were hindered by the blockades.
BAK Chairman Kostadin Kostadinov said that an agreement was reached that the rates of Ukrainian aid for sensitive sectors would be the same as last year.
The Minister of Agriculture, Kiril Vatev, thanked the farmers for their patience and intelligence. He explained that the funds for the Ukrainian aid were collected through the restructuring of the budgets of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Agricultural Fund, and no sector was harmed.
Tsvetan Tsekov from the Branch Chamber “Fruits and Vegetables” expressed hope that with the changes in the legislation, as well as with its expansion, Bulgarian agriculture will become more sustainable.
Academician Denkov explicitly reiterated that the funds for state aid to farmers come from the transformation of departmental budgets, that no money is taken from a given sector and that there will be no update of the national budget because of Ukrainian aid.
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