Government decided it would pay 60 million leva to livestock breeders only after the European Commission (EC) would have approved the measure, Agriculture Minister Valeri Tsvetanov told reporters on August 7 2008 after the Government's weekly session.

The Government's decision came after more than a week of protests staged by livestock breeders all around the country, demanding more money to be allocated for them from the state budget.

Protesters claimed that the current state subsidies were lower than what livestock breeders in other European Union member states were paid, which made Bulgarian livestock breeders less competitive because of the high price of fodder.

The Government, on the other hand, has always said that more money for livestock breeders from what had been already agreed with the EC, would have meant a form of state aid which did not comply with the principles of the European common market. This, according to the Government, would have led to sanctions imposed on Bulgaria by the EC.

Not willing to listen to Government's reasons, livestock breeders have staged protests day after day threatening with civil disobedience, blocking major roads, pouring milk on the streets, publicly slaughtering animals and marching with their animals into neighbouring Romania and Greece, where they claimed they would get better treatment.

The pressure reached its peak on August 6 when police had to arrest protests in various place in the country after roads and traffic had been blocked. In the late hours of the day, the Agriculture Ministry and livestock breeders finally reached an agreement which became the basis of the August 8 Government decision to earmark 60 million leva out of the budget for livestock breeders.

The agreement said that the money would go to year-round subsidies for every litre of milk produced as well as compensations for the high price of fodder. This meant that livestock breeders would get 0.20 leva a litre for cow and goat milk and 0.25 leva a litre for sheep and buffalo milk.

The state had already paid nine million leva to farmers, but this only covered the first two months of 2008.

Despite the signed agreement, livestock breeders did not call off protests and said that they did not trust Government. Their protests again dominated the news on August 8.

Reason for the protests was the statement by Tsvetanov that the money would be paid once the EC had indicated that it would not consider the payments a form of state aid.

Now it was all in the hands of the EC, and livestock breeders said that they would not end protests until the money was paid to them.

On August 8, protests became a political matter after several right-wing parties in opposition called on Parliament to end its annual summer leave, which had started on August 1 and would continue until September 5.