The companies which will develop projects under the Rural Development Program 2007-2013 have already been registered, Deputy Agriculture and Food Supply Minister Svetla Buchvarova told a seminar on Thursday. For this program, Bulgaria will receive 2,600 million euro from the European Agricultural Fund and 633 million euro from the national budget, BTA reported.

The Agriculture and Food Supply Ministry will provide information and assistance for the absorption of the funding, Buchvarova said. The payment of subsidies to farmers in disadvantaged areas will begin in May. Farmers who till land in mountainous and non-mountainous areas with poor soil and relief conditions will receive additional payments, she said.

The amount of funding will depend on the size of the land plots. This type of funding is expected to total 200 million leva (102.25 mln euros).