September 4, 2012

Without putting its domestic consumption at risk, Bulgaria will be able to export 70% of its cereal crops.

"Our new wheat crops are about 4.2 million tonnes. We also have about 600,000 tonnes from last year, such as our cereal crops total 4.8 million tonnes. We need 1.3 million tonnes for domestic consumption. Thus, we can export 3.5 million tonnes," Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture, Miroslav Naydenov estimated.

He reminded that 90% of Bulgarian cereal crops were exported to the EU and in case of crisis Bulgaria would be able to import grains from the union. However, Naydenov expressed his expectations that Bulgaria would export 2.5 million tonnes at the most. The majority of Bulgarian cereal crops are exported to Spain (503,360 tonnes), Italy and Romania (181,000 tonnes each), followed by Greece and Portugal. The minister said that the first tranches of the BGN1 billion (US$645 million) in EU subsidies for agricultural land would start being paid from December 2012.