site.btaFarmers to Receive Funding of over BGN 700 million in 2022, Agriculture Minister Ivanov Says

In 2022, Bulgarian farmers will receive funding of over BGN 700 million, as in the rest of the EU countries, outgoing Agriculture Minister Ivan Ivanov told the Bulgarian National Television on Sunday. Ivanov said that this 'unprecedented funding' and the strengthened border control gives Bulgarian agriculture 'a breath of fresh air'.

Ivanov recalled that, in the first half of 2022, farmers received BGN 143.5 million BGN in compensations due to the COVID-19 crisis which, together with BGN 600 million of EU and state aid envisaged for the second half of the year, will exceed BGN 700 million. Some BGN 450 million of the amount are earmarked for arable and livestock farming, he said.

The state aid ceiling per farm under the European Commission's State Aid Temporary Framework is to be increased from EUR 35,000 up to the maximum limit of EUR 62,000, the Agriculture Minister stated.

Commenting on the strengthened phyto-sanitary, health and veterinary control at the Kapitan Andreevo Checkpoint on Bulgaria's border with Turkey, Ivanov said that no such inspections have been made over the past ten years. As a result of the State's actions, some 22 tonnes of vegetables were rejected for high pesticide content. Following this approach, the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency expects additional revenues of BGN 25 million in the second half of 2022, he added.