There are no economic prerequisites for price increases. This was stated in the program "Speak Now" on BNT by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Ivan Hristanov.
"I will ask the question this way – if prices are increasing and the revenues of the “Agriculture“ sector are increasing, why should there be compensatory measures? In fact, what our analysis shows is that there are no economic prerequisites for price increases. It is precisely because of this that if there is a price increase – by the way, we are starting to monitor them from tomorrow not on a weekly basis, but on a daily basis, including with inspections in retail outlets and markets – but if there is an increase in prices, we will look for speculative elements."
Regarding possible speculation, the minister commented:
"Well, look, I say again – by the way, and Mr. Prodanov shared it literally at the end of the report – we do not have deficits that would provoke an increase in prices. Usually, there is an increase in prices when there is a deficit. There is no such thing in Bulgaria. Pork is cheap, eggs are cheap, chicken is available, cereals – we have 1 million tons more than last year, which suggests that prices will remain stable. So, I say again – where we see someone trying to push them up... And let's not contradict ourselves – both Easter promotions, and prices will go up – it will be either one or the other. But we see that the "Easter basket" goes directly into promotion. You are talking about some prices that are high. At the moment, Bulgarian fruits and vegetables are coming out - they traditionally, the first cucumbers, the first tomatoes are at higher prices than imported ones. But do you know what they do? They take imported ones, pack them as Bulgarian ones and sell them. There are currently promotions all over Bulgaria. Even at this moment there are six teams of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency that are conducting traceability checks so that Bulgarians are not misled into buying imported goods, but at prices like Bulgarian ones. Because what turns out - that Bulgarians are willing to pay a little more, but for the goods to be Bulgarian, even from early production."
Minister Hristanov acknowledged that the margins along the chain - from farms to stores - are too high when it comes to dairy products.
"Literally until Wednesday, the prices were still around 40-45 cents, the purchase prices of quality Bulgarian milk. And suddenly on Friday, they started calling from all over the country - talking about prices between 31-35 cents. We immediately requested data from the National Revenue Agency on intra-community supplies, from the “Customs“ Agency on imports. On Monday, my first job in the morning will be to look at them. And from there, we already have some planned measures with the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency and our colleagues from the directorates, with which we can somewhat curb this orgy that is literally crushing our farmers. On the other hand, the report of the working group, which was specifically about the prices of dairy products, is also ready. On Monday afternoon, we start working in its context. As for there, the most important question is, where are the excessively large margins? I will not tire of reminding you that in 2022, when we stopped smuggling, the price of raw milk jumped from 80 stotinki to 1.25 leva, and in the shop window it was 2.50 leva. Currently, we have the absurdity, we are the only country in the European Union in which we have a collapse in the purchase prices of milk. our farmers are crushed, and at the same time we have stable high milk prices."
BNT: What answer did you give yourself – why are our yellow cheese and cheese so expensive?
- Because there are inflated margins along the chain. The point here is that when we present this information, Bulgarians will be able to act informed. We need to realize – in a market economy, you can't just go and say “lower the prices“.
Regarding expensive fertilizers and warnings of possible bankruptcies among farmers, Minister Hristanov pointed out:
"Rather, the big problem here, which was shared with colleagues – the challenge that we must overcome together with the National Assembly, is that in the conditions of an extended budget, we cannot do things that have not been done in previous years. So, by the way, at this meeting yesterday at the branch chamber there were candidates for national representatives and grain producers, fruit growers, vegetable growers – everyone directly turned and said: “Please keep in mind that even if you have to hold an extraordinary meeting, as there was on April 1, do it, but let us really have this peace of mind and this confidence. Because within the current resource, we practically have neither the instrument nor the money. We have to go through the National Assembly," said Hristanov, emphasizing that it was about the fertilizer measure.
Regarding the compensation for the excise tax on fuels for farmers, the minister summarized:
"We already have an additional 22 million euros increase in the so-called excise measure. That is, farmers, when they fuel their tractors, will have a lower price. In fact, they will pay the price, but we compensate for the excise tax. The notification is already underway there. If we previously compensated for 21 cents of excise tax, now we are already notifying compensation for 31 cents."
"In addition to this, within the crisis headquarters there are already measures for transport, for education. I suppose you remember that another 25 million euros have been notified for transport, specifically for the excise tax - that inter-village and school transport will be guaranteed. So there are quite a few measures. A very large part of them have already been communicated to the individual sectors. When we talk about the “Agriculture“ sector, this is part of the interventions that we are planning. But the most important thing is that when there is cash, it allows for purchases. The scariest thing is when there is either no fertilizer or no money available to buy it. We have already held talks with the fertilizer plants and “Lukoil“ so that we can receive guarantees that there will be both fuel and fertilizers for the next two months."