site.btaFood Safety, Forest Agencies Demand Structural Reforms

Employees of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) and of the Executive Forest Agency (EFA) continue to demand structural reforms in the two institutions, it transpired from an open letter, drafted by the trade union organizations in the two agencies, which was sent to BTA. The letter will be presented to MPs on Wednesday morning. 

The document expresses hope that the two agencies' demands will be considered during the updated 2022 budget adoption by Parliament. 

BFSA and EFA demand that they be transferred from the Agriculture Ministry to the Council of Ministers. The structural reforms were part of the coalition agreement, but have not been implemented yet, which constitutes an obstacle to the updating of the two agencies' budgets, the letter says. 

Another demand is to update BFSA's and EFA's budgets in a way that guarantees wage increases of their staff of no less than 30 per cent. According to the letter, freezing wages is illogical given the growing inflation and the decreasing purchasing power. The low income is also a cause for many qualified employees to leave the agencies. 

BFSA and EFA also insist that the two agencies' budgets be updated as part of the Council of Ministers' budget, which will guarantee that the agencies continue to carry out their functions smoothly. The sums demanded are BGN 145,703,742 for BFSA and BGN 42,058,600 for EFA. 

The trade unions express their readiness to stage protests and go on strike if their demands are not met.