A total of 1,700,000 leva in direct aid will be given to dairy farmers now, Agriculture Minister Valeri Tsvetanov told journalists in the northern town of Knezha Tuesday.

He added that everything possible will be done so that agricultural producers also be paid the money allocated for the drought last year, BTA reported.

With a letter he has signed yesterday Tsvetanov has requested ratification from the European Commission for the extension of the rest of the promised subsidies. He and Deputy Prime Minister Meglena Plougchieva will visit Brussels on this occasion in the beginning of September. Bulgaria is government cannot support a decision that would lead to severe sanctions in respect to our policy to date, which could concern not only the dairy farmers, but also SAPARD and any funding pertaining to the common agricultural policy, Tsvetanov was adamant.

"To date, stockbreeders and dairy farmers have received subsidies of 58 million leva, which come from the state and from payments of the European Commission and no one can convince me that Bulgaria's stockbreeders have received such a sum in six months [ever] before," the Agriculture Minister said. In his words, as a EU member, Bulgaria has the opportunity to receive additional funding for stockbreeding, but "the Treaty with the EU is signed in such a way that stockbreeders on principle are left slightly aside and that is why their reaction now is quite natural and logical."

The Deputy Chair of the National Association of Milk Producers in Bulgaria supervisory board Boryana Docheva told BTA that money has not been transferred to the account of any farmer yet. She added that some 500 farmers from Plovdiv region (Southern Bulgaria) will come to Sofia Wednesday to take part in the national protest rally in front of the Agriculture Ministry. Sofia City Hall has granted permission for the protests, providing that animals are not involved.

At the initiative of National Assembly Chairman Georgi Pirinski, the Agriculture and Forestry Committee will hold a special meeting on August 25 in relation to the protest actions of stockbreeders, dairy farmers and dairy product producers, the parliamentary information service said. Invitees to attend include Tsvetanov, the Executive Director of the State Fund Agriculture Atanas Kunchev, the head of the National Veterinary Service Zheko Baichev, as well as the leaderships of the national associations and agencies in the sector.

Today the Institute of Maize in Knezha hosted a working meeting of the Agriculture Minister with farmers from Pleven region, at which grain producers asked for state intervention on the grain market because buyout prices are very low - 200-220 leva/t wheat - while, in their opinion, the real cost exceeds 300 leva/t.

Photo: BGNES