Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov visited the Kulata-Promahon border crossing point late on January 25 to assess latest developments as more than 350 lorries and their drivers languished on the border in freezing temperatures, Bulgarian National Television (BNT) reported on January 26 2010.

At 10pm on January 25, the queue of motionless lorries at the border exceeded seven km. Eventually, the Greek farmers lifted the blockade at 2am, about two hours after a meeting between Naidenov and the Greek municipal commissioner of Serres, Stefanos Fotiadis.

On the morning of January 26, however, Bulgarian media reported that the border blockade had resumed and Kulata was shut, although BNT said on their website that at 12.45pm the Kulata-Promahon crossing point was open to traffic.

In the aftermath of talks with Fotiadis and the ensuing events, Naidenov advised Bulgarians to avoid travel to Greece because differences between the Greek government and local farmers are still far from resolved.

Naidenov is in charge of the hastily formulated "crisis task force" that is supposedly poised to deal with the situation. The official will inform Prime Minister Borissov about latest developments and update him on the total damages sustained by the Bulgarian economy because of the blockades.

The blockade began in January 15. It has been estimated that, with every day that the borders remain closed, or partially closed, the Bulgarian economy loses three million leva.

On January 20, Naidenov said that he had sent a letter to the European Commission along with his Romanian counterpart, Mihail Dumitru, to demand that the EC take immediate action against Greece because its farmers are violating the constitutional right to free movement across borders, both of businesses and civilians.

A day earlier, on January 19, Borissov held an emergency meeting with the European Commission to discuss the ongoing border blockade. The Prime Minister told European Commission President Jose Manuel Barosso that the country must be compensated for the "illegal" blockade.

Meanwhile, in Athens, about 300 farmers congregated outside Zappeio Hall where they protested and petitioned the government to meet their financial demands. The farmers say that unless they are paid for what they have produced as well as for damaged crops, they will not be able to plant new produce, Kathimerini reported on January 26 2010.

A bid to launch channels of communication between the government and protesting farmers on January 25 failed to get off the ground as members of the agricultural sector and representatives of New Democracy (ND) boycotted round-table discussions in Athens. Reportedly, the farmers have also refused to negotiate with Greece's ruling party, Pasok.

Greek agricultural minister Katerina Batzeli also failed to reach a workable solution with the protesters as Pasok suffered another setback in its effort to establish common ground with the protesters, who have set up more than 20 roadblocks around Greece, as well as  blocking the Bulgarian border.

Greek farmers also shut the borders last year and no compensation was paid to Bulgaria for the losses incurred.