Our food security should be the No. 1 objective of the parties’ election campaign, said the former agriculture minister, who would not agree to take up the same post again
„Our food independence is at huge risk. We say everywhere that our grain production is great, that we export more than 6 million tons of wheat, we produce about 3 million tons of sunflower. This year will be a tragedy with sunflowers and corn.” This is what he said in the show “The World is Business” on Bloomberg TV Bulgaria former Minister of Agriculture Kiril Vatev.
„It turned out that less than 5% was our own seed production!“, he continued. “We, even in this (successful) Grain sub-sector, are dependent on the import of seeds, plant protection preparations and fertilizers. What is our independence and what is our security?„
He wondered now, as the election campaign begins, how many parties will come up with some strategy for our food independence and security. According to Vatev, this should be goal No. 1 regardless of who governs us.
He drew attention to irrigation and pasture problems.
“We continue to explain how grazing animals interfere with national parks, while also seeing what fires have occurred and how ungrazed grasses dry up and burn,” Vatev said.
Another big problem is climate change. We have short periods of very intense rainfall, for which we do not have the infrastructure to organize this water and direct it to the appropriate reservoirs, Vatev also said. We are still restoring the canals, which is taking time, he explained. According to him, this water can be used for irrigation in long and dry periods. “Our irrigated areas are 0.7%” – Vatev also recalled. “By 1989, we had irrigated 12.5 million acres – about 30% of the cultivated agricultural land. Romania irrigates 30 million acres with water from the Danube River alone. We have more water than Romania, Turkey and Greece, but we do not irrigate.„
“The minister becomes a hostage of the political system. He depends on the state administration, which he cannot touch because there are parties that guard it. She was appointed by these parties and they don’t let her be touched. It is very difficult to pass a bill in the National Assembly. I have a specific example with the only bill we introduced that passed. This was the law on the ownership and use of agricultural lands, which gave priority to livestock breeders to use the pastures that were close to their livestock sites. Preference is given to people who live in the locality and wish to grow fruit and vegetables, or to livestock farmers to produce feed. Unfortunately, it’s all tainted at the local level.”
Kiril Vatev is adamant that there are people who do not grow anything, but receive subsidies. “This ratio of how much these “subsidyers” are is determined by the political parties that tolerate them. Take a look at who has ruled a country for the longest time in the last 30 years and you will answer your question. In this way, in fact, votes are really boughtVatev also said.
“I allow myself to speak so boldly because I have no party affiliation and will not participate in elections. I wouldn’t want to be in the same situation again as I was. The big problem is the party-degenerate branch organizations that annoy everyone, but enjoy patronage.”
„For the year 2023, the state has spent about 4 billion. This is the total amount of agricultural subsidies. How is it that we don’t have Bulgarian products on the market then?“, the former minister also commented.
The former minister recalled that Romania and Greece receive less subsidies than we do. It has long been untrue that we receive the least subsidies. As newly joined members, we receive 80% of the subsidies that older member countries receive. But through state aid, the amount increases and is not small at all.
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