In hopes of stimulating local production, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev intends to curb what he calls ‘excessive import of fruits and vegetables’. Almost 80% of the fruits and vegetables consumed in Bulgaria are imported.
In recent years there has been a big drop in Bulgarian production and an increase in imports. Farmers have been demanding state protections for local production for years, but have done very little to develop cooperatives to offer large volumes of agricultural products to international markets. Most of the imported fruits and vegetables come in from Turkey and Greece.
On Friday, the Agriculture Ministry announced that it sent its changes in the Strategic Plan, which creates the rules for absorbing European subsidies until 2027, for approval to the EU Commission. The total EU subsidy for Bulgarian agriculture is €8 billion for the next four years.
The new rules provide that the annual subsidy for young farmers will be doubled. Also, the state provides for the allocation of start-up capital for entry into the agricultural branch.
Source: euractiv.com