Bulgarian Newsflash Week 26, 2022

EC published 405 recommendations for the Bulgarian strategic plan

The European Commission published a letter with recommendations for the draft of Bulgaria’s CAP strategic plan for 2023-2027, reports Balgarski Fermer weekly.  Bulgaria is asked to justify choosing 600 ha as the line for redistributive payment. It is also asked to reconsider the change of the per-farmer payment for the additional redistributive payment. The experts in Brussels find the change ratios to be too high and not well justified. Bulgaria is asked to add a condition for admissibility for investment in energy for own consumption, such as improved energy efficiency. The EC clearly specifies that an ordinary replacement of old machines cannot be considered admissible. Bulgaria is urged to consider strengthening the Strategic Plan as far as pesticides are concerned by clarifying the expected contribution of the respective interventions and including practices for integrated pest control so as to reduce the use of chemical products for plant protection and the risk thereof, and the use of more hazardous plant protection products.

Bulgaria seeks another postponement of environmental measures and requirement for decreased use of pesticides in 2023

The planned reduction in the use of pesticides by 40-50% will have dire economic consequences in Bulgaria as it is trying to ensure sustainable harvest and competitiveness of its agriculture in the current global economic conditions, that call for sufficient, accessible and quality food for all. Bulgaria shares the view that setting national goals must rest on a detailed assessment of the impact and take into consideration the different starting points of the Member States, the country-specific conditions, geographic location, climate, crop composition and pests, as well as the lack of alternative plant protection methods that are efficient, safe and accessible, said the Ministry of Agriculture.

Animal health insurance fund to be established in Bulgaria

The Centre for Assessing the Foodchain Risks recommends that a national animal health insurance fund be established with State Fund Agriculture, reports Agrozona. Such a health insurance fund can operate on the principle of shared responsibility between the State and the owners of farm animals, a mutual fund of a kind in the meaning of the applicable regulations, and be authorized by the established procedure by the Accreditation Agency. Such an animal health insurance fund will provide funding for compensating farmers in the event of outbreaks of animal diseases and cover fully their losses.

Bulgaria: Discussion on innovative food started

Bulgaria can be a regional leader in the production of proteins from insects but the State needs to be more active with the regulation of this business. That conclusion was reached at a round table on the future of foods, initiated by the Association of Producers and Processors of Insects in Bulgaria with support from the Bulgarian Startup Association. Among the participants were Cleantech Bulgaria, the French-Bulgaria Chamber of Commerce, Endeavor Bulgaria, the Black Peak Capital Investment Fund, organic food producers Harmonica and NV3, among others, reports Capital daily.

They agreed that Bulgaria has a huge potential in this sector: it is the only country in the Balkans where the industry of producing alternative proteins from insects already exists and has serious ambitions for future development.

On EU level, the legislative needs of the sector have largely been taken care of but the legislation is non-existent in Bulgaria at this stage and this slows down the sector’s development. Ensuring local regulations has been recognized as the topmost goal of the Association of Producers and Processors of Insects in Bulgaria. They believe that this country can grow to become a regional leader because it is the only one in the Balkans and among the very few in Central and Eastern Europe with an alternative protein industry - the nearest other producer country being Poland.

An increasing number of investor and consumer networks embrace the idea of using alternative proteins, said Rossen Ivanov, managing partner at Black Peak Capital. He said the expectations for the market of alternative and plant proteins is to grow considerably, with close to 80% of the younger generation using at least occasionally such products. The new regulations and climate change will enhance these trends. He said that a logical next step would be the creation of specialized funds for investment in innovative and sustainable foods similar to the funds in the IT sector.

The looming problems in the global food sector cannot be addressed without fast introduction of the principles of the circular economy in all business sectors and Bulgaria is lagging behind in this department, said Dessislava Dimitrova of the Circular Economy Board with the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The round table ended with a plea for pooling the efforts and starting dialogue between the competent institutions and the companies in the sector of organic farming and alternative proteins (proteins from algae, plant proteins, meat substitutes, insects and nuclear proteins). The aim is to set up a working group and closer cooperation for supporting innovations in Bulgarian agriculture and the food industry.