March 7 (SeeNews) - The European Commission gave the green light to a Bulgarian state aid scheme in the amount of up to 120 million levs ($66.7 million/61.4 million euro) in support of grain and oilseed producers affected by Russia's war on Ukraine, the agriculture ministry in Sofia said on Thursday.
The aid, in the form of direct grants capped at 280,000 euro ($304,473) per beheficiary, will cover part of the losses of wheat, barley, rapeseed, corn and sunflower growers, the ministry said in a press release.
You can download the 2023 Agriculture industry in Southeast Europe report here
Developed under the Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, the grants apply during the framework's entire term, from March 2022 to June 2024, taking into account the total aid received by each producer during this period. Applications for aid can be submitted from March 20 to April 9.
The European Commission approved last March a Bulgarian state aid scheme of about 109 million euro to support farmers in the context of Russia's war on Ukraine. In December, Bulgaria's agriculture ministry announced the disbursement of the final tranche, totalling 39.3 million levs, from the EU-backed grants for farmers.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)