Atige Aliyeva-Veli is against cutting agricultural subsidies in half

A few hours after the head of the DF "Agriculture" Victor Gruev announced the idea of ​​reducing the subsidy for Bulgarian farmers from 50 to 25% under the RDP, with a bunch of rhetorical questions the MEP Atidje Aliyeva-Veli argued why this should not be allowed.

A few hours after the head of the DF "Agriculture" Victor Gruev announced the idea of ​​reducing the subsidy for Bulgarian farmers from 50 to 25% under the RDP, with a bunch of rhetorical questions the MEP Atidje Aliyeva-Veli argued why this should not be allowed.

With a post on social networks, Atidje Aliyeva-Veli, a member of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development in the European Parliament and former deputy executive director of the DF "Agriculture", asked what concerns every representative of the industry, after the - the new proposal of the head of the Fund, Viktor Gruev. He suggested that the subsidy for farmers under the investment measures of the Rural Development Program in the new programming period be halved so that there is money for more real projects. Thus, in practice, the representatives of the branch will receive 25%, and the remaining 25% will be a financial instrument, such as a loan.

Given the burden on farmers, Atidje Aliyeva-Veli asked:

• Why are we ourselves limiting the opportunities and development of Bulgarian agriculture in times of a pandemic and the upcoming green transition?

• Will we be able to catch up with Central European agriculture on the condition that Bulgarian farmers continue to be harmed with lower subsidies (without equalization of direct payments) and with an urgent need for modernization (lack of innovation and digitization)?

• How will we retain small farmers and attract young people into the industry?

• Why the expected reduction in the general budget of the Common Agricultural Policy should be projected in reduced subsidies and not in effective support?

• Why Bulgaria will not receive additional funds under the Program for the Development of Rural Areas, as provided for 12 countries (the decision of the Council of the EU to give more than 5 billion euros in addition to the CAP budget to these 12 countries)?

„The questions can go on, but it is important to hear the opinion of the farmers, because they are the people who provide us with daily life and food, they should say what they need, and we should make it so that they have opportunities to develop by producing clean food and protecting clean water, air and the environment!", the Bulgarian MEP is emphatic.