THE Grain Saga reached its peak last week because it stepped onto the political scene. An opposition party demanded the resignation of Agriculture Minister Mehmed Dikme because of his inability to control the market. The prices of grain kept going up, the State Reserve released 200 000 tons at the price of 270 leva, still the situation did not return to normal.

It is slightly reminiscent of 1996. Then again the prices of grain were going up, bread disappeared from shops and several months later the socialist government of Zhan Videnov went down. The official version of the next government lead by Ivan Kostov was that the grain was bought at low subsidised prices in the country and exported abroad to be sold at a very high profit by business conglomerates close to the then ruling party. The perpetrators were publicly known but never punished. What are the reasons for the unrest this year? And how will this crisis end?

For Bulgarians, bread is a sacred product and the public is very sensitive about it. It can easily become the reason for political speculations that could lead to catastrophe. "There is no bread in the country", sends a clear message to the public, which works at an subconscious level. Players on the market, however, have a more pragmatic approach.

The increase in the price started in October. Then a ton of wheat cost below 200 leva. According to traders, quoted by weekly newspaper Kapital, the actual price of grain now is about 300 leva, although the market is blocked and nobody offers wheat. The only officially registered trade of wheat is with the amounts released from the State Reserve at the Commodity Exchange. Outside the exchange there are traders offering wheat at a price of 340 leva a ton, but nobody is buying. The Government took two steps - it set zero tariffs for import of grain, fodder and flour and announced that 100 000 tons of wheat will be imported from Argentina in January. The most recent announcement, from deputy chief of the State Reserve Yovcho Yovchev caused further puzzlement. The deal was awarded to Dansass Company, unknown to grain market experts. It was commissioned by the state after a tender on the Plovdiv Commodity Exchange which seemed to have been held in total secrecy. The price of the imported wheat will be $130 or 220 leva excluding transport. A price of less than $160 a ton is absurd, said Kostadin Marinov, secretary of the Grain Traders Association.

This is when the political parties stepped in. The Union of the Democratic Forces (UDF) demanded the setting up of a temporary commission to check up the transactions of the State Reserve. They said that they had tip-offs that the grain from the State Reserve was not where it should be but is used uncontrollably by private companies, commissioned by the state to store it. One of the suspects was milling company Simid, which was known to keep the grain from the State Reserve. It continued to sell cheap bread although all other bakers raised the prices.

As a result of this, another drama took place. Bakers from Rousse threatened to form live chains on roads leading from the cities of Sofia, Varna, and the town of Silistra, to their town. They said that they would not allow through delivery trucks from the major companies, which flood the market in the town with cheap bread. The private bakers blame the Government for allowing major companies like Simid to knock prices down. More than 80 bakers from Pernik blocked the road to their town last week for several days in a row to protest against what they term illegal competition from Simid. The bakers from Pernik complained that the company was selling bread in Pernik at dumping prices. They stopped the traffic near the villages of Dragichevo and Golyamo Buchino. The protests of the Pernik bakers were supported by Ditrict Governor Dimitar Kolev and Pernik Mayor Antoaneta Georgieva who visited the blockade. The bakers wrote to the President to protest against the illegal competition. The Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria are organising a protest rally in Sofia of bakers from all over the country.

The Bulgarian Agricultural People's Union, led by Anastasia Moser, demanded the resignation of Dikme for his failure to control the situation. The UDF also announced that the agricultural policy of the Government had failed and the Bulgarian Socialist Party demanded an explanation. The coalition partners from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms kept silent which worsened the situation. Dikme remained alone against everyone else, still unable to answer simple questions like - how much grain is available in the country, how much was the last crop and how will you import wheat at 220 leva when the price in the country is around 300? Still, for now, the import in January seemed the only hope for solving the situation.