Imported and native fruits and vegetables on the market are 60 to 40. Kiril Vatev hopes that next year it will be 50 to 50

2023-08-11 16:40:48

The advisory council for fruit growing and vegetable production focused on the work on amending the Strategic Plan from the very beginning – something that the branch organizations from the sector wanted back in February. This became clear from the briefing after the meeting of the first Consultative Council on fruit growing and vegetable production (KSOZ).

Photo of BTA

The Minister of Agriculture, Kiril Vatev, announced that the work on part of the changes in the Plan should be completed by mid-September, and the rest of the proposals will be approved by the EC to be ready by the end of the year. The Ministry will rush the developments, taking into account the 3-month deadline in which Brussels must react.

The Minister of Agriculture announced that the Strategic Plan was prepared without a market analysis, which is absurd, since the opportunities for the realization of fruits and vegetables give the production horizon. Vatev quotes the chairman of the State Commission for Commodity Exchanges and Markets, Vladimir Ivanov, according to whom the market ratio between Bulgarian and imported fruit and vegetable production is 40 to 60. “Which is very worrying,” said Kiril Vatev, who was expected to reply that the numbers are misleading.

The minister said that he hopes that this ratio will become 50 to 50 next year.

Regarding the dissatisfaction of part of the branch organizations that representatives of groups and organizations of producers participate in KSOZ, Kiril Vatev explained that the composition of the Advisory Council is to be refined – missing branch organizations will be added, and others will be reduced as desired to the manufacturers who they want to represent them.

It has become clear that trade organizations from the sector have requested a check on the change in prices from the stand to the flight. Similar was the desire of the Milk sector, expressed to the Milk Consultative Council.

Asked about possible changes in the Strategic Plan, the Agrarian Minister pointed to zoning. But he added that zoning (the most suitable crops for each region in the country) cannot be done without a reliable forecast of expected climate changes.