Bulgaria's Agriculture Reaches 'Threatening' Share of GDP

Bulgaria's agriculture has reached a "threateningly" high increase as a share of the country's GDP, according to Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov.

Naydenov said Bulgaria's monthly trade surplus in August, the first in ten years, was largely due to the rise in exports of agriculture products.

He did not specify why exactly he termed the growth of agriculture as a GDP share as "threatening", and where he sees reasons for concern in that.

The Agriculture Minister awarded Thursday the prize for "Agro-Businessman of the Year 2010" to the winner, Netso Minev, the founder and CEO of the Stara Zagora-based company Zlatex dealing with import and distribution of agricultural machines and equipment.

Zlatex also grows grain on about 3 000 hectares in Southern Bulgaria. The Agro-Businessman Prize is granted by the Bulgarian Farmer magazine.

Naydenov underscored the need for new equipment and specialists for the Bulgarian agriculture sector saying that Bulgarian universities produced only 27 agricultural experts in 2009.

Of the 56 000 agricultural tractors in Bulgaria, over 45 000 are older than 10 years.

The Agriculture Minister did announce that he has made a deal with Finance Minister Djankov to reduce the excise taxes on fuel used by agricultural producers.