Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naidenov and the Greek ambassador to Bulgaria, Magdalini Koumanakou, met on February 4 2010 to discuss the precarious situation at the Greek-Bulgarian border and the ongoing blockade.

The long anticipated resolution to the problem was not reached, however, and no information was revealed by the Greek government about any concrete progress.

If anything, Koumanakou's revelations that the "Greek farmers do not have a single agenda and a united front" mean that the Greek government will find it hard to satisfy the different factions within the agricultural sector, each with their own agendas and interests.

"We assured Mr Naidenov that the Greek government is working hard on the issue and we are trying to reach a resolution," Koumanakou was quoted as saying by Bulgarian National Television (BNT).

"We would like to have the issue resolved through dialogue and not with the use of force," she said.

"Our task is made more difficult because the farmers are not united in their demands. On one side, we are told that the blockade will intensify and become worse. But on the flip side of the coin, one barricade has already been taken down," Koumanakou said.

Meanwhile, Naidenov had informed the Greek diplomat of the "official figures" of damages inflicted on Bulgarian businesses. Earlier, it had been claimed that the Bulgarian economy had suffered losses exceeding three million leva a day. But, according to Bulgarian media, the confirmed damages as of February 4 2010 - three weeks into the blockade - amount to 2.5 million leva.