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The Minister of Agriculture Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozukov PHOTO: MAFWE
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The Food Agency banned the sale of a total of 155 tons in 2020, prices did not rise
The Minister of Agriculture Hristo Bozukov will refer to the prosecutor’s office for illegal orders of the former director of the Food Agency (BFSA).
The reason is the restriction of imports of chicken meat from Poland, as it was claimed that it was infected with salmonella. In December 2019, more than 100 tons of such meat were placed on the Bulgarian market, and then the agency began to examine all shipments from Poland. As a result, shipments were suspended several times, bringing the total to about 155 tonnes.
In an interview with BNR, however, Minister Bozukov said that salmonella was only a pretext for restricting imports, and the goal was to satisfy the interests of specific large companies. (The largest producers of chicken meat in Bulgaria are Ameta Holding and Gradus AD.).
“The order states that poultry meat and offal should be banned until the results of the laboratory test are obtained, without the need, without a special case of salmonella, as the orders of the executive director are illegal and are a prerequisite for corrupt practices by employees. by the Regional Directorates for Food Safety, carrying out official controls on consignments of poultrymeat originating in Poland and imported from third countries. “The fact that such controls have been carried out in order to delay the import of meat and eggs raises some doubts,” the minister said. The conclusions were made after an audit in the agency.
A report in the Committee on Commodity Exchanges and Markets shows that the wholesale price of chicken in December 2019 was BGN 3.91 per kilogram. In the following months it varies between BGN 3.92 and BGN 3.96, no significant changes are observed compared to November. In December, compared to October, chicken meat rose by 10 cents.
Bozukov also said that the BFSA has outsourced activities that it can carry out itself. This has led to the accumulation of liabilities of BGN 18 million to these companies. The contracts were unsecured and unsecured.
The Minister also commented on the issue of the shortage of firewood. According to him, providing them is hostage to the upcoming elections. There were areas where foresters distributed firewood to the local population on lists of supporters of specific parties. Bozukov gave a specific example with Kardzhali, recalling that firewood is distributed by municipal mayors.
“I had a meeting with the association of municipal forests, which told me that this is a political issue and immediately after the election there will be plenty of wood,” Bozukov said. At the same time, there was enough wood. (24 hours)
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