Fruit and vegetable growers staged a protest over distribution of funds under Covid-19 assistance measure

Fruit and vegetable producers from across the country staged a protest in Rousse, Northern Bulgaria. For a short period of time, they blocked the traffic in the area of the border crossing at the Danube Bridge last night, March 13, to express their dissatisfaction with the decision of the ministry of agriculture on the distribution of funds under the so-called Covid-19 asssistance measure.

Nikolai Kolev is a farmer and chairman of the Union of Danube Fruit Growers.

"We have staged the protest with a single demand - a fair distribution of the temporary Covid measure for the fruit and vegetables sector. It is not right for a minister to come to a meeting that brings together the Livestock and Fruit and Vegetable sectors, throw some 111 million on the table and say, 'allocate these funds'," Kolev explained to the BNT morning show.

At the moment the proposal is for a 60/40 distribution for livestock farmers. However, this does not suit fruit and vegetable producers, as the funds are too little.

If the measure remains 60/40, the rate will be BGN 40 per hectare at a cost of more than BGN 1 000 per hectare for fruit production and will in no way cover the cost of all raw materials, the producer warned. This will certainly lead to an increase in the price of fruits and vegetables this year.