The national association of wheat producers has called for an urgent meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister, Sergei Stanishev, asking for swift access to credit guaranteed by subsidies pegged at 2009 levels.
 
Farmers desperately need assistance to ensure the upcoming harvest proceeds properly.

The current situation has been complicated, however, by banks' uncertainty about new regulations for making loans with European Union money. Hence, credit has been stalled. Meanwhile, farmers are waiting to receive additional funds designated for the development of rural regions, Dnevnik daily has reported.
 
Several projects have been shelved and overlooked for more than a year by the state agricultural agency.
 
Different agricultural branches maintain that they must be involved in the process of distributing the state aid destined for the agricultural sector - financial assistance encompassing the period 2010-2013 still to be finalised with Brussels.
 
Farmers also demand another 130 million leva to compensate for fuel adjustments in 2010, a sum expected to soar to 400 million leva in 2011. The Government is also to negotiate a reserve fund of 200 million leva from the European Commission, which will be implemented by farmers annually in cases of natural disasters and crop failure.
 
An additional 500 million leva is to be allocated to the budget to stimulate top quality agricultural produce, while the state will have to pay for an aggressive international advertising campaign of all ‘typical Bulgarian brands’ of yoghurt, white cheese and others.