site.btaWithdrawing the Budget Will Not Delay Payments in the Agricultural Sector, Minister Georgi Tahov Says

Withdrawing the budget will not delay payments in the agricultural sector, all payments are on schedule, said Minister of Agriculture and Food Georgi Tahov in the Albena resort complex before the start of the thirteenth national agri-seminar of the National Association of Grain Producers.

He added that on Wednesday, at a meeting of the Council of Ministers, several payments were approved at his proposal. “One of them is related to increasing the capital of Irrigation Systems in order to complete the country’s irrigation infrastructure. The second concerns the engineering of the Pyasachnik dam, which is absolutely essential for irrigation across all of Southern Bulgaria,” the Agriculture Minister noted. 

According to him, through an amendment to the Water Act, irrigation water service will be treated as a service of general economic interest. “This means that all farmers and producers who access this water will use it at very preferential prices, along with many other benefits,” Tahov added.

He also stated that at the beginning of December, the State Fund Agriculture is expected to pay out more than BGN 600 million for the main income-support scheme for sustainability. “All payments and cycles are proceeding on time,” the Minister assured. 

Regarding the withdrawal of the budget, he said that he stands behind the statement made by Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov. 

Earlier, GERB leader Boyko Borissov said that he had told the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance to withdraw the draft budget or find a legal mechanism, because it has been adopted at first reading, and until dialogue with the National Council of Tripartite Cooperation is restored and until everyone reaches an agreement on how the country will be governed in the coming years, the existing budget for 2025 will remain in use. 

On Wednesday evening, thousands of people filled streets in downtown Sofia and the square known as the “Power Triangle”, where the new National Assembly building is flanked by the Presidency and the Council of Ministers, to protest the adoption of the 2026 budget bills.