Farmers' costs are increasing, competition is intensifying, and the market struggle is becoming increasingly difficult. This was announced by Georgi Stoyanov, chairman of the Bulgarian Farmers' Union, during a forum “Farmers and Markets - competitive through sustainability“, organized by the union today at the “Intercontinental Sofia“ hotel. According to Stoyanov, it is not enough for farmers to just produce good raw materials. If they do not participate in the next stages - storage, processing, distribution, creating their own brand and direct sales, a large part of the added value remains outside their farms, he said. According to him, farmers must build working partnerships that guarantee the producer a better position and a real share of the value of the final product.
Bulgaria has the capacity to produce more food than it consumes, but it still relies on imports, noted Georgi Stoyanov. Therefore, according to him, the focus should start from the domestic market by planning volumes, ensuring constant quantity and quality, and connecting farmers with processors, traders and local markets. As a successful step in this direction, he pointed to the concept “Our Homeland“ and the farmer events held in various cities, which is an initiative of the Bulgarian Federation of Farmers.
The Chairperson of the Consumer Protection Commission (CPF) Maya Manolova announced during the forum that checks are being started on the real purchase prices at which production is purchased from Bulgarian producers. “During the checks that we will carry out – they will literally start from today, the truth about what the real prices are, at what prices Bulgarian production is purchased, Bulgarian production, will become publicly known“, emphasized Manolova.
According to Eurostat data, Bulgaria exceeds the average European prices for basic food products - oils and fats - by 142 percent, dairy products and eggs - by 126 percent, and sugar products - by 116 percent. At the same time, price levels are 93 percent of the average European, and purchasing power is only 68 percent.
Manolova noted that this summer purchase prices in retail chains have fallen dramatically, with watermelons being purchased for 9 euro cents, peppers for 30-60 euro cents during promotional sales in stores of 1.50 euros, while the chains have relied on cheap imports - tomatoes from Albania, carrots from Turkey, potatoes from Egypt. On the topic of the initiative “Basket with Care” Maya Manolova announced that practice shows that the problem cannot be solved with voluntary agreements with the chains. She emphasized that her main commitment as the chairwoman of the CPC is to lower prices for consumers, without this happening at the expense of Bulgarian producers. “My commitment is to lower prices, because the fair value, in general, the expectation of Bulgarians is not simply for prices to stop rising, but for those with markups of 80, 100 percent to be around the fair value”, said Manolova.
The Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Food, Professor Dr. Ivan Paligorov, announced during the forum that a new directorate is being created in the Ministry to collect market information on quantities, prices, quality for both the domestic and foreign markets, in order to facilitate the sale of farm produce. He added that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is conducting a dialogue with retail chains to clarify the supply chain - from the field to the end consumer and stressed that the state will not regulate market prices, but will require transparency and traceability of the chain.
The Deputy Minister also informed that joint meetings were held with the Customs Agency and the National Revenue Agency on the import of fruits and vegetables from third countries - Turkey and the Western Balkans, and it was found that trucks cross the border with invoices of greatly reduced values, after which the goods are resold many times more expensive. Ivan Paligorov announced that taxation of goods at the border is being introduced in relation to average established real prices in order to curb fictitious price dumping. “Now we have adopted and introduced taxation of the goods at the moment they enter, but not at the price written on the invoice, but at the average price that we have as reported”, he added.
In a video message to the forum participants, Copa-Cojeca Secretary General Elie Tsiforou expressed her gratitude for the partnership with BFU and highlighted its active contribution in Brussels on key topics such as the future of the CAP, simplification of rules, trade, innovation, sustainability and supply chains. As a main structural problem, she pointed to the weak negotiating position of producers and the uneven distribution of value and risks. “The costs of the transition to sustainability should not be transferred entirely to farmers”, she said. Elie Tsiforou added that the unification of producer organizations and cooperatives allows for the consolidation of production, achieving savings and more equal bargaining. She also noted that in order to have certainty for investments and innovations, European farmers need a solid budget for the CAP in the next Multiannual Financial Framework.
The Chairman of the State Commission for Commodity Exchanges and Markets, Vladimir Ivanov, said during the forum that the main structural defect of the Bulgarian agricultural sector is the poor market infrastructure, fueled by a large share of the shadow economy and a poorly regulated procedural environment for control. According to him, the Law on Administrative Offences and Penalties reflects social relations from 50 years ago and primarily protects violators, turning control into a cumbersome administrative burden.