Within tomorrow, farmers will receive the funds in the amount of BGN 200 million under “Aid to support the liquidity of farmers to overcome the negative economic impact of Russian aggression against Ukraine” and “Aid to support the liquidity of farmers, producers of grain and oil crops, to overcome the negative economic impact of Russian aggression against Ukraine”. This was announced by the Acting Minister of Agriculture and Food Dr. Georgi Tahov during a meeting with representatives of the branch. He emphasized that there is a decision of the Board of the State Fund for Agriculture (DFZ) to pay the amount and a notification has been sent to the European Commission (EC) for the entire amount of 325 million BGN, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food indicated.
The Minister of Agriculture informed that tomorrow, together with the Deputy Prime Minister and Acting Minister of Finance, Ludmila Petkova, they will meet with representatives of the interested parties. He added that in connection with the unfavorable weather phenomena that had a negative impact on agricultural production, at the request of Bulgaria, the crisis reserve of the EU was activated and for the first time the affected farmers in our country will have the opportunity to take advantage of this mechanism.
During the meeting, the progress on a number of legislative proposals from the industry was also discussed, as well as the targeted allocation of the “de minimis” state aid resource.
On October 2, after an extraordinary Governing Council meeting, the National Association of Grain Producers (NAG) issued a statement expressing its displeasure regarding the non-compliance with the deadlines for the payment of the so-called “Ukrainian aid”.
On October 4, the Branch Chamber “Fruits and Vegetables” announced strike readiness “due to the attitude of the state towards the agricultural sector in our country”.
On Monday, October 7, the government announced that it had approved an additional BGN 200 million under the State Fund “Agriculture” budget for 2024, which will be used to pay part of the second tranche of a total value of BGN 325 million under “Ukrainian aid”.
Yesterday, October 8, the Management Board of the NAZ held a meeting at which all regional structures unanimously decided to insist on an immediate meeting with the Minister of Finance in the next two days regarding the commitment made for the payment of the so-called “Ukrainian aid”. The association appealed for the state to specify the terms and the method of distribution of the funds that the farmers urgently need.
At the beginning of February 2024, farmers in the country staged a series of protests with requests for a revision of the proposal for the distribution of aid and the budget, which would prevent mass bankruptcies in Bulgarian agriculture, as well as for clear guarantees for legislative changes to ensure sustainability of the sector, writes BTA.
The protests led to the signing of an agreement on February 12 between the government and representatives of the Agriculture sector. As a result of the commitments made by the “Denkov” cabinet, at the end of February, the State Fund “Agriculture” announced the deadline for applying for the state aid schemes “Aid to support the liquidity of farmers to overcome the negative economic impact of Russian aggression against Ukraine” and ” Aid to support the liquidity of farmers, producers of grain and oil crops, to overcome the negative economic impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine” in the period from March 20 to April 9, 2024.
The first tranche was paid to farmers in the month of May, and the second was to be paid by September 30.