Greenhouse producers expect tomatoes and cucumbers to become around 30 percent more expensive due to increased natural gas costs. Some farms have already planted their winter crops and built their heating systems to operate exclusively on gas, making a rapid switch to another energy source almost impossible.
Near the Pazardzhik village of Vetren Dol, Ognyan Zlatev grows 30 decares of tomatoes and 15 decares of cucumbers. His greenhouses are heated entirely with gas, and the producer has hired 40 employees for the season.
“It is too late for me to switch to another type of heating. I cannot uproot the crop and close the greenhouses,” Zlatev told NOVA. He said that if production were halted, the question of how the families of the hired workers would make a living would arise.
Heating accounts for around 50 percent of the final cost of tomatoes at his farm. After calculating the higher price of gas, Zlatev estimates that his produce will become at least 30 percent more expensive.
The free-market price is higher than the regulated one
According to the Association of Greenhouse Producers, the increase in gas prices is double that of last year. Last winter, producers bought the fuel from “Bulgargaz” at BGN 82 per megawatt-hour.
Marin Genurov, chairman of the Bulgarian Association of Greenhouse Produce Producers, distinguishes between the regulated price and the price paid by greenhouses.
He warned that high costs are putting winter production under pressure and called on the state to find a way to compensate for part of the increase.
Producers are also seeking assistance for gas
According to Genurov, greenhouse farmers who use natural gas and pellets are not included in the so-called “Iranian aid,” as this mechanism compensates for part of the excise duty on heating oil or diesel.
That is why the industry is calling for the excise duty on natural gas for greenhouses to be removed as well. “Just as it is being removed in other sectors, it should be removed for us too,” Ognyan Zlatev suggested.
Producers do not expect restrictions on domestic production to lead to a shortage on the market. They say increased imports will fill any potential gap and affect vegetable prices in Bulgaria.
Sources: nova.bg