The second tranche is expected to be transferred by the end of November
Farmers will receive all the planned state aid of BGN 325 million for the second half of the year under the agreement on the negative economic impact of the war in Ukraine. This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Georgi Tahov, at a meeting with branch organizations from the “Agriculture” sector at the Ministry of Agriculture.
The terms for the payment of the second tranche under state aid schemes: “Help in support of the liquidity of farmers to overcome the negative economic impact of the Russian aggression against Ukraine” and “Aid to support the liquidity of farmers, producers of grain and oil crops, to overcome the negative economic impact of Russian aggression against Ukraine”. The Deputy Ministers of Agriculture and Food Yanislav Yanchev and Ivan Kapitanov and the Executive Director of the State Fund “Agriculture” Iva Ivanova also took part in the meeting.
Minister Takhov was adamant that as a result of the dialogue with the Ministry of Finance, the farmers will be paid the full amount stipulated in the agreement signed in February 2024 between the government and the branch organizations, although the necessary funds have not been included in the national budget .
He informed that after the government approved the additional BGN 200 million under the DFZ budget for 2024, the Ministry of Health is ready for quick disbursement of the funds after receiving a response to the notification sent to Brussels about the state aid. The rest of BGN 125 million will be paid to farmers by the end of November.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food recalled that Bulgaria requested the activation of funds from the agricultural reserve of the European Union (EU) due to the damage caused by the drought and fires. He introduced the branch organizations to the actions taken by the Ministry of Agriculture to increase the irrigated agricultural areas. The participants in the meeting also discussed the issue of farms that have already reached the ceiling for receiving state aid.
Minister Takhov also announced that the payment of the basic income support for sustainability to farmers is planned for December.
Meanwhile, at its meeting, the Board of Directors of the DFZ voted for the farmers to receive financial support in the amount of BGN 200 million under the two state aid schemes. The approved budget is distributed as follows: BGN 100 million under the scheme “Aid to support the liquidity of farmers, producers of grain and oil crops, to overcome the negative economic impact of Russian aggression against Ukraine” and BGN 100 million under scheme “Aid to support the liquidity of farmers to overcome the negative economic impact of Russian aggression against Ukraine”.
The maximum aid intensity is up to EUR 280,000 (BGN 547,632) per enterprise active in the primary production of agricultural products. It applies to the whole period of the Temporary Framework (March 2022-December 2024), taking into account the amount of all the aid received by the farmer.
This spring, the DFZ paid out the full amount of the first tranche of the two Ukrainian schemes in the amount of over BGN 330 million. The support was provided to over 52,000 farmers.
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