Djankov appeals to grain producers not to stage a strike

“I hope that grain producers are reasonable enough not to stage a strike and block the country,” stated Minister of Finance Simeon Djankov regarding the intention of the National Association of Grain Producers to protest because of the substantially reduced additional national payments under the single area payment scheme.
Djankov explained that the resources which will be remitted from the state budget to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food in 2012 are identical to those for 2011. He said that a redistribution of money within this budget is being discussed. “There is a proposal for BGN 60 mln to be allocated to farmers besides the EU payments for this year. More money will be earmarked for vegetable producers and other agricultural sectors.” The Minister of Finance pointed out that grain producers will not be compensated because this is a sector which has received large government subsidies over the past 6-7 years.

Minister of Agriculture and Food, Miroslav Naydenov, also called upon grain producers to exhaust all forms of dialogue before resorting to staging a strike. "Some of them receive more than the funds earmarked for sports or for the culture sector in Bulgaria. There are companies which receive more than BGN 30 mln; why don't they say it now," said Naydenov.
He explained that the budget requested by his administration has been reduced by 4.1% , which must be compensated in some way. “The budget of the State Fund Agriculture has been reduced by BGN 230 mln.” Regarding the accusations that the Ministry of Agriculture is planning to sell attractive real estate, Naydenov said: "We became very cautious after the notorious exchanges of land plots - nobody intends to sell anything. The trade unions made this suggestion at a meeting of the Tripartite Council but changes in the law are needed in order for this to happen. "

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