Nearly 700 dairy producers and livestock-breeders from all over the country gathered on August 21 at the Shipka mountain pass to demand their state subsidies for April to July 2008 to be paid.

Although they did not have authorities’ permission, the protesters blocked the pass for 10 minutes and clashed with nearly 200 policemen and gendarmes, who were guarding the road, website mediapool.bg said. According to private broadcaster bTV, Shipka pass was currently one of the main connections between the northern and the southern part of the country, with most of the other mountain passes closed.

Romanian farmers also supported the protest with Costel Caras, head of the labour union of cattle-breeders in Romania, present at Shipka. “The governments of Romania and Bulgaria work for Brussels, not for their citizens. With mutual efforts we will fight to be free countries because now we are Europe’s slaves," Caras said as quoted by mediapool.bg.

According to Boiko Sinapov, head of the strike committee of sheep breeders from the eastern Rhodope Mountains, Bulgaria's Agriculture Ministry has met only few of the farmers’ demands, made at the national protest on August 13 in Sofia. Back then, the protesters said that they would give the ministry a one-week period to pay out the late subsidies. Minister Valeri Tsvetanov then promised that the payment would start as early as on August 14. The ministry claims that nearly 5.66 million leva were already paid.

Sinapov said that only a few farmers had received subsidies and even then, they only received the money they were owed for the month of March.

The farmers also want additional subsidies and called for the Cabinet’s resignation, mediapool.bg said. Bulgarian Association of Milk Producers’ chairperson Andriyan Tsakonski said that they wanted the speculation that the farmers had money, but wanted to get richer, to stop. “We are farmers and we want to work like they do in the other countries. It is high time that these ministers resign. We gave them eight months, but our patience is over and we cannot wait. Our demand is economic, not political,” mediapool.bg quoted hum as saying.

Dairy producers from north-eastern Bulgaria also protested. They blocked the main road, connecting Sofia and Varna, between Shoumen and Turgovishte.

Protesting farmers near the village of Sheremetya, near Veliko Tarnovo, spilled 400 litres of goat milk on the road. The farmers threatened that they would continue protesting every week until their demands were met.