Ministry of Agriculture proposes changes in application deadlines

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food (MAF) proposes significant changes to the indicative program for admissions under interventions aimed at modernizing agricultural holdings and processing agricultural products. This became clear after a working meeting between the leadership of MAF, State Fund "Agriculture" (SFA) and representatives of branch organizations.

The main proposals include shifting application deadlines and increasing budgets at the start of admissions. According to the new plan, admissions for modernization of agricultural holdings will begin in November 2025, and those for processing agricultural products - in January 2026. This is a substantial postponement compared to the initially planned period of September-October 2025.

After the proposals made by the industry and considering the need for more time for preparation and organization for applicants, together with the executive director of SFA Iva Ivanova, we propose these amendments.

Another important proposal is to increase the starting budgets for interventions from 50% to 80% of the total allocated financial resources. This means that the total budget for investments in modernizing agricultural holdings will reach 278.1 million euros, and for processing agricultural products - 306 million euros.

Selection criteria and priorities

During the meeting, selection criteria for support applications were also discussed for four key interventions from the Strategic Plan for Agricultural and Rural Development 2023-2027. These interventions include investments in agricultural holdings, as well as those aimed at environmental protection.

Among the priorities in the selection criteria are:

• Promoting organic production
• Improving animal welfare
• Financial sustainability of applicants
• Stimulating cooperation between agricultural producers

Special attention will be given to young farmers up to 40 years of age and to applicants from areas with natural and other specific constraints.

New opportunities and budget increases

For the first time in the current programming period, environmentally-oriented investments are grouped into a separate intervention. It will support activities such as organic production, precision agriculture, gene pool conservation, and implementation of renewable energy sources.

Meanwhile, MAF has published for public consultation draft orders for amending the Guidelines for Applying under two procedures from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. As a result of successful negotiations with the European Commission, the budget for the procedure "Investments in technological and environmental modernization" has been increased by 30 million euros, and the deadlines for implementing approved investments under both procedures have been extended.

These changes reflect MAF's efforts to adapt its programs to the needs of the agricultural sector and to ensure more effective utilization of European funds for modernization and development of Bulgarian agriculture.