“We have opened the door wide for anyone to who wants to be involved in solving sectoral problems in agriculture by creating various advisory councils”, said the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Kiril Vatev, during the Tenth National Meeting of Agricultural Producers in Bulgaria, which was held in Kazanluk.
Minister Vatev emphasized that the agro-food chain is a whole entity and there should be no division between producers and processors. "On the contrary, they must be unified to meet the criteria of consumers. If they are happy, that means we have all done our job. Only those who are successful on the market and have a competitive product will be appreciated by the consumer," the minister highlighted. "The agricultural community needs to unite and there is hardly anyone in this hall who is not aware that on the market we are competing with products produced by extremely well organized cooperatives. We will remain non-competitive on the market if we do not start cooperating," Minister Vatev pointed out.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food, Tanya Georgieva, pointed out that the ministry’s team is working on the 17th change of the Rural Development Program 2014-2020, which includes the redirection of free funds to completed receptions under sub-measure 4.1 "Investments in agricultural holdings", respectively, and for the municipal projects under sub-measure 7.2. "Investment in the creation, improvement or expansion of all types of small-scale infrastructure". She explained that under sub-measure 4.1, there is a readiness to transfer funds and it is possible to secure the financing of 216 projects.
“The team is working at maximum speed, our goal and desire is to be able to prepare the materials for the Monitoring Committee within the next week," added the Deputy Minister.
The Executive Director of the State Fund "Agriculture" Georgi Tahov said that in 2023 the Fund has paid more than BGN 3 billion under various schemes and measures. He pointed out that by the end of the month an additional redistribution payment will be made.