Today, the government adopted two key decisions in support of Bulgarian agriculture, namely allocating €170 million to assist agricultural producers due to increased production costs, and €500,000 to the budget of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) for the establishment of a specialized laboratory to control the authenticity of Bulgarian rose oil. This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Plamen Abrovsky, during a briefing at the Council of Ministers.
He pointed out that the first decision provides €170 million for the so-called "Iranian aid," which will support nearly 50,000 agricultural producers. According to him, the funds are aimed at compensating for the increased production costs associated with the rising prices of gas oil and fertilizers as a result of the crisis in the Middle East. "This support will enable agricultural producers to maintain their competitiveness and continue their operations normally," added Minister Abrovsky.
He announced that the second decision is related to the protection of Bulgarian rose oil—a high value-added product with an established international reputation. "We are allocating €500,000 to the BFSA budget, which is intended for the establishment of a specialized laboratory for verifying the authenticity of rose oil by the end of the year."
"Bulgaria is globally renowned for its rose oil. Unfortunately, until now, the state has not provided the necessary capacity to distinguish natural from synthetic rose oil. This creates an opportunity for synthetic products to be misrepresented as Bulgarian," the Minister of Agriculture explained.
He was emphatic that with the establishment of the laboratory, our country will possess its own national control capacity, which will ensure the quality, authenticity, and origin of Bulgarian rose oil, thereby safeguarding trust in the Bulgarian product on international markets.
"By securing these funds, the BFSA will have a laboratory by the end of the year capable of guaranteeing on a global scale that Bulgarian rose oil is genuine," Minister Abrovsky highlighted.
He added that the laboratory will also enable the next step to be taken, namely an amendment to the Oil-Bearing Rose Act, which will guarantee the identification, quality, and origin of rose oil produced in Bulgaria.