ECONOMY - WINE - MINISTER - VISIT

Bulgaria Holds Worthy Place
on World Wine Map -
Agriculture Minister


Vidin, on the Danube, February 14 (BTA) - Bulgaria holds a worthy place on the world wine map and is a preferred wine tourism destination, Agriculture and Food Minister Ivan Ivanov told journalists on Monday. Ivanov was visiting a 150 ha vineyard by the Danube River on St Tryphon's Day, the festival of vine-growing and wine-making.

St Tryphon's Day is celebrated across Bulgaria by vine growers, wine makers and wine lovers. In the vine growing regions, locals held processions and performed the ritual of vine pruning.

In Vidin, the Agriculture Minister said his trip to that part of the country was a sure sign that the region has a potential and the government is indebted to it. Investments in the local vine and wine industry show that the region has a future. Last year alone, Vidin Region received 1.7 million leva from State Fund Agriculture under an operational programme. Ivanov pledged that the government will be a good partner to vine-growers and wine-makers.

The 2022 state budget has 111 million leva for anti-COVID measures, part of which will go to the vine and wine sector. Ivanov said the sector has priority status for the Agriculture Ministry.

As he attended a vine pruning ritual in the southeastern village of Elenovo, Yordan Chorbadjiiski, the President of the National Vine and Wine Chamber (NVWC) told reporters that the government should introduce subsidiaries of at least 300 to 350 leva per 0.1 ha for winegrowers.

Currently, there are subsidies of 15 euro per 0.1 ha but the sector struggles with high electricity prices, he said. The prices of fertilizers, bottles, corks and packaging have increased as well. This will affect the prices of Bulgarian wines, Chorbadjiiski noted.

According to him, the government should introduce urgent measures to support the wine industry, otherwise there will be bankruptcies. The wine sector may even stage protests if no additional subsidiaries are included in the draft state budget between its first and second reading in Parliament, NVWC President Chorbadjiiski stressed. /MY/VE/KK

Source: Vidin, on the Danube