People are unhappy that the mass commissions describing the damage say 70, 80 or 90 percent, even if they find two ripe peppers in the field, saying that the produce is not completely destroyed.
Hundreds of farmers from the municipalities of Kaloyanovo, Maritsa and Rakovski, whose produce was destroyed by hail 8 days ago, blocked the Plovdiv-Karlovo road near Kaloyanovo for about half an hour.
Near Kaloyanovo station and on the sides of the main road, they dumped some of their ruined produce, which was collected from the field early this morning, to show what was left of their produce.
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The protesters said that if they did not receive guarantees that they would be compensated for the mistake, they would pour out their destroyed harvest in front of the parliament next week for a ban on firing rockets at the hail cloud.
A few days ago, due to the landing of a military transport plane at Plovdiv Airport, the use of anti-hail missiles was banned, and the harvest in 15 Plovdiv villages was destroyed. On August 30, the Minister of Agriculture Hristo Bozukov came to get acquainted with the situation on the spot and said that there will be support by the end of the year. However, people claim that voices are being heard that not everyone will be helped, that people whose products have been destroyed, but not 100%, will not be helped.
However, protesters are unhappy that the mass commissions describing the damage are ruling for 70, 80 or 90 percent, even if they find two ripe peppers in the field, saying the produce is not completely destroyed, people say.
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Protesters dumped some of the produce on the road, which was damaged and is no longer actually for sale. They blocked the road to Karlovo and Hissarya, to other villages in Kaloyanovo municipality and other settlements.
Farmers with 100 percent damage said:
“Colleagues are already massively withdrawing applications from land services because whoever is 100% on protocol, as I am, say we will be rejected and lose the tied support for vegetables.”
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“This is not a natural disaster, we demand answers, for 100% compensation, and for those people who do not have 100% damage. Because none of us is guilty. The state is guilty, the state is a murderer.”
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“Here is the goods, now we are dumping them here, at the crossroads of Kaloyanovo station. Next time, if we do not have a clear mechanism on how we will be supported so that we can continue working next year, this goods will be in front of the parliament.”
We do not believe in promises, we want the aid to be included in the budget, the protesters added.
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In the meantime, this morning the Ministry of Agriculture disseminated information stating that areas destroyed below 100% will be supported under two schemes: for support under tied support and under de minimis, as those destroyed at 100% will be able to participate in coupled support scheme. Compensation is expected for some by the end of the year, and for the other group – in the first month of next year. In the meantime, 15 million have been set aside in the budget update to provide these benefits.
Despite information circulated by the agriculture ministry, people say they are ready to continue protests until they receive a 100% guarantee.
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