2023-05-25 15:01:52
Kostadin Kostadinov
“We have learned from a reliable source that Kiril Vatev will be promoted to Minister of Agriculture. Don’t ask me where, but the information is certain.” This is what the chairman of Agro Plovdiv told Agro Plovdiv Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber (BAK) Kostadin Kostadinov.
Kiril Vatev is a partner in the family meat processing company “Tandem-V” EOOD and actively participates in the Association of Meat Processors in Bulgaria. He was among the founders of another agricultural chamber, for the establishment of which there was interest from processors and scientists. There was talk of this chamber at the beginning of December 2022, but it was not possible to establish it.
Kostadin Kostadinov also said that BAC is far from the idea of nominating a candidate for a future Minister of Agriculture, but wants him to be an expert in agriculture.
BAK has sent its position regarding the possible naming of Vatev as a minister to the leaders of “We continue the change”, “Democratic Bulgaria” and GERB. It’s posted on the Epicenter site, where we got it from:
POSITION regarding the candidacy of Mr. Kiril Vatev for Minister of Agriculture
Dear Sirs,
In connection with the candidacy of Mr. Kiril Vatev for the Minister of Agriculture announced by the political party “We continue the change”, we from the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber (BAK), which unites 13 organizations from the various sub-sectors of agriculture and represents the interests of over 10,000 farmers , we express our categorical disagreement with the application.
Despite our respect for Mr. Vatev as a businessman in the processing sector, we have serious concerns about his expertise, including education in the field of agriculture, on the one hand, and the lack of administrative experience required to head such an important ministry, what is the Ministry of Agriculture, on the other hand.
In addition, Mr. Vatev is unknown to the majority of agricultural producers in Bulgaria, especially to those outside the livestock sector, as so far he has not contributed anything concrete to the promotion of Bulgarian production and its realization.
Our concern is further strengthened by the fact that, based on his practice as a businessman from the processing sector, if elected as minister, Mr. Vatev could influence the decision-making process that further weakens the position of producers in the chain of delivery.
Such decisions will be to the detriment of Bulgarian producers, who are still unequally positioned with food producers, who process mostly imported agricultural produce at the expense of domestic production.
The current difficult situation in Bulgarian agriculture from the point of view of agricultural production markets, caused by the crises of recent years, the new rules of the Strategic Plan for the Development of Agriculture and Rural Areas of Bulgaria, which are faced by agricultural producers and the state administration, including the risk of failure of the current campaign to claim direct payments, as well as the ongoing political uncertainty in our country, requires that individuals with a high level of professional training in the agricultural sector, leadership skills in state administration and working with the institutions of the European Union, which can formulate clear policies for the development of agriculture and make responsible national decisions in extremely short terms, which qualities and skills, unfortunately, we do not find in Mr. Vatev’s candidacy.
We at BAK, as the largest organization uniting all sub-sectors of agriculture, expect you to take our current motivated position with due seriousness, because it is in defense of the interests of Bulgarian farmers and our native production, which is the most important mission on BAK!
We express readiness for dialogue and constructive meetings to discuss suitable candidates for the post!
May 25, 2023
Sincerely, Kostadin Kostadinov
Chairman of the Board of Directors
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