Bulgaria Faces Loss of EUR 90 M under Rural Development Program

Bulgaria loses nearly EUR 90 M under the Rural Development Program for the past programming period due to the poor performance of the State Fund Agriculture, according to Deputy Agriculture Minister Vasil Grudev.

Grudev, as cited by the Focus news agency, made clear Friday that the efforts of the Agriculture Ministry were focused on approving the 2014-2020 Rural Development Program as fast as possible so that Bulgaria would be ready to open the investment measures under it in the beginning of 2015.

"We cannot afford to leave the business sector without any EU funding for one more year, as was the case in 2014, technically speaking," he stated.

Grudev underscored that Bulgaria could not avoid a substantial loss of EU funding under the scheme for the past programming period at the end of 2014.

He said that the priority sectors for the new team at the Agriculture Ministry would be plant and animal production, arboriculture, and organic farming.

Grudev also explained that the Agriculture Ministry would be ready to start paying subsidies to livestock farmers on the day after the promulgation of the budget update.