Will Bulgaria stop giving millions to phantom farmers?

Published 2022년 9월 13일

Tridge summary

The Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture is seeking to change the reference year for Transitional National Tobacco Aid from 2007-2009 to 2016/2017/2018. This proposal, recently submitted to the European Commission, aims to provide more flexibility to farmers. The current scheme has caused resentment among real tobacco producers, who feel it is unfair that funds are being distributed to those who have not grown the crop for years. The national agricultural fund allocated BGN 70 million to 38,781 beneficiaries in March 2022. The industry represents over 3,400 officially registered producers and is advocating for equal subsidy opportunities to help offset the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and adverse weather conditions affecting tobacco harvests.

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Original content

What will be the reference year for Transitional National Tobacco Aid? This is a question that worries manufacturers who are registered legally and are real. We asked the Deputy Minister of Agriculture, Georgi Sabev, what the proposal of the Department of Agriculture is. "What we have sent and continue to defend or rather explain to the European Commission (EC) is that in compliance with the new Regulation, which enables Member States to change the reference period, but not later than 2018 , it is important for us to have a little more flexibility, and therefore we propose that the reference period be 2016/2017/2018, according to the situation in individual farms", informed Sabev during his participation in AgriPodcast. This is the last position that our Ministry of Agriculture recently sent to the EC. "And we continue to stand behind this position", emphasized Sabev. See also: Who gets Transitional National Tobacco Aid and why? Farmers who grow tobacco often tell Agri.BG that it ...

Source: Agri