Today, from the parliamentary rostrum, Kostadin Kostadinov sharply criticized the Ministry of Agriculture and Food and the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA) for the unequal treatment of farmers affected by the epidemic among animals. He emphasized that the cases in Kabile and Velingrad clearly demonstrate the “double standards and lack of transparency“, which further destroys citizens' trust in institutions.
The chairman of “Vazrazhdane“ began with a historical review of the situation, emphasizing that Bulgarian livestock breeding has experienced a serious decline since the country entered the European Union.
“We had 10 times more sheep 35 years ago. Today, if we assume that we have nearly one million sheep, this is a remnant of our once strong agriculture. Decades of subsidized competition and lack of adequate national policies have led to this“, he said, adding that 80% of the food in Bulgaria is currently imported, which is in stark contrast to the past, when the country was “one of the largest exporters of agricultural produce in the world.“, Kostadinov expressed indignation at the different approach to the disease-affected herds in Kabile and Velingrad.
“In Velingrad, the herd was pardoned, probably because a political umbrella protects it. Meanwhile, in Kabile, 85 sheep were slaughtered without even testing. How did they know they were sick if they didn't have ear tags?“
He pointed out that such actions create a sense of injustice and lead to “distrust in the system, distrust in the Ministry, and distrust in the state as a whole.“, Kostadin Kostadinov warned that problems with animal disease control could lead to the imposition of a quarantine on the entire country.
“The European Commission may decide that it is easiest to impose restrictions on everyone. This will cost millions and will lead to the slaughter of tens of thousands of animals because the farmers will not be able to feed them,“ he also said.
Kostadinov stressed that “18,000 sheep farmers in Bulgaria will suffer because of the decisions of a handful of people.“
In conclusion, he made a sharp appeal to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food:
“Either treat everyone equally, or no one! You cannot impose strict measures in one region and nothing in another. This is not only unfair, but will lead to lawsuits that all of us – citizens – will pay.“
He insisted on immediate action by the institutions to avoid greater damage to agriculture and people's trust.