Parliament failed to vote on the amendments to the Law on Support for Agricultural Producers as the plenary session expired. Parliament Speaker Mihaela Dotova announced before the session's adjournment that discussions on the topic will continue at the next session. Thursday's agenda is already set and includes work on amendments to the Law on Renewable Energy Sources, followed by planned changes and additions to the Electronic Identification Act.
One of the main proposals in the bill is to allow the State Fund "Agriculture" to provide support to agricultural producers during adverse climatic events through a Mutual Aid Fund. Simultaneously, it is proposed that the Ministry of Agriculture and Food provide targeted financial resources from its budget to cover the calculated state contribution for membership in representative organizations in the field of agriculture at the European and global levels. These funds may be provided to national unions of agricultural cooperatives (registered under the Cooperatives Act) and to associations of agricultural producers registered as non-profit legal entities performing activities in the public interest. The money may be used exclusively for non-economic activities related to the representation and protection of the interests of Bulgarian agricultural producers and may not be used for other purposes.
The texts provide for the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to create and maintain a database of areas with greenhouses, nurseries, and permanent crops. The conditions, procedure, and method of access to this information will be regulated by ordinance, and the deadline for its creation is one year. Regarding communication, the State Fund "Agriculture" or the Managing Authority of the Strategic Plan will notify candidates or beneficiaries of individual administrative acts, electronic documents, and declarations via a message in their individual profile in the Electronic Services System (ESS). The relevant document will be attached to these messages. In the event that a candidate or beneficiary does not download the individual administrative act—which constitutes a full or partial refusal of non-reimbursable financial assistance—within one month of its publication in the ESS, the act shall be considered served on the first day following the expiration of this period.
Svilen Trifonov of "Democratic Bulgaria" described the bill as one of the most important in the sector, as it allows the Ministry of Agriculture and Food to pay the membership fees of agricultural organizations in European associations. However, he expressed concerns that it opens the door to an unlimited circle of entities—non-profit legal entities—to apply for these funds, without clarity on the approval mechanism for payments, the cost to the budget, or exactly how many entities will be eligible. According to him, this creates legal uncertainty, emphasizing further that there must be transparency regarding the source of the funds and how they are used.
Krastyo Vrachev of "Vazrazhdane" expressed the opinion that it is not right to allocate state funds for the membership of Bulgarian non-governmental organizations in European representative structures, adding that he is not convinced the smallest farmer will be objectively represented. Nevertheless, he noted that the spirit of the bill is good and represents a correct step for farmers, considering the creation of the mutual aid fund and advance payments to be good decisions.
Shendoyan Halit of DPS emphasized that when amending a law that distributes significant public resources, the provisions must be clear and predictable. Although the DPS parliamentary group will support the core decisions, Halit stated that some texts require additional precision, especially regarding deadlines, procedures, and risk support rules, which must be applied equally to all. He added that technology should not displace the fundamental principles of the agricultural process, therefore the method of service via the ESS must be clarified.
Desislava Taneva of GERB-SDS drew attention to the Social Climate Fund, which has a resource of 2.34 billion euros. This resource, intended to support the most energy-poor and vulnerable households and micro-enterprises until 2032, could also provide exceptional support to agricultural regions. Taneva stated that there is no urgent necessity regarding the controversial decision on funds for so-called "white spots"—agricultural lands for which there is no legal basis and for which the 10-year period for transferring them as a monetary resource into the mutual aid fund has expired. She emphasized that these funds belong to the owners and, without an expert opinion, it cannot be said that the mutual aid fund will have access to them starting tomorrow.
Minister of Agriculture Plamen Abrovski reassured participants, stating that there is no problem with these funds. He explained that according to the current regulation, the amounts are deposits and are paid out by the regional directorates of agriculture based on an order from their director within a 10-year period. According to the minister, the state can pay the unclaimed sums from the "white spots" during this 10-year period, and if the agricultural producer proves that the statute of limitations has not fully expired (since there is a suspension of the statute of limitations during this period), they will receive their money when they are entitled to it.
Changes to the law on agricultural support will be significant for farmers and economic stability in the Burgas region.
/TNP/