In 2023, less than BGN 1 million were spent under the scheme, for this year BGN 3 million is too little
The Management Board of the State Fund for Agriculture (the Board of the State Fund for Agriculture) decided to increase by BGN 50,000 budget by scheme for state aid “Assistance for co-financing of insurance premiums at insurance of agricultural production in the “Crop farming” sector for 2024. This is necessary due to the great interest of farmers in the scheme this year in order to fully support all eligible applicants.
At the beginning of the year, the Board of the DFZ approved a budget for the scheme in the amount of BGN 3,000,000. With the accepted increase, the total amount of aid becomes BGN 3,050,000.
The deadline for applying for assistance for the co-financing of insurance of agricultural production in the “Crop farming” sector was from March 25 to July 31, 2024. Until August 30, 2024, farmers could submit insurance policies to the regional directorates of the Agriculture Fund, and the deadline for the conclusion of the contracts between the farmers and the DFZ is up to 20 working days after the presentation of the insurance policies.
729 applications were received, of which 678 were eligible for support. DFZ has paid BGN 2,993,158 for 675 submitted applications. The balance is not enough to pay the sums of the remaining applications eligible for financing, and for this it is necessary to increase the resource under the scheme by BGN 50,000. In 2023, a total of 246 farmers were supported for BGN 884 thousand.
The purpose of the aid is to encourage micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises, farmers, producers of cereals, oil-bearing, essential-oil and medicinal crops, fruits, vegetables and tobacco to voluntarily insure agricultural production against an adverse climatic event that may be equated to a natural disaster, and other adverse climatic events.
The support is provided in the form of a subsidized service to farmers through payment by the state to the insurance companies of part of the insurance premiums under concluded insurance policies for the insurance of their agricultural production for the relevant season. Pre-paid expenses for insurance premiums before submitting an application and issuing a certificate from the DFZ are not covered.
The amount of support per hectare for crops grown outdoors is up to BGN 420 per hectare (for fruit, vegetable, essential oil and medicinal crops, and tobacco), and the amount of support per hectare for greenhouses is up to BGN 1,260 per hectare.
For grain and oil crops, the support is up to BGN 54 per hectare. Farmers growing grain and oil crops are supported for the first 600 hectares of their land.
Differences above these parameters are borne by the farmer.
The tax due, according to the Tax on Insurance Premiums Act, is paid in full by the farmer and is not an element of support.
The Board of Directors of the DFZ adopted an amendment to the guidelines for providing assistance in 2024 in the part of increasing the assistance budget.
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