Bulgaria - advisory board for tobacco will be established..

January 24, 2011 - Advisory Board for tobacco will be established at the Bulgarian Agriculture Ministry and will include representatives of tobacco producers, companies, state administration and legislature.

The news was announced Friday, January 21st by the Bulgarian Agriculture Minister, Miroslav Naydenov, after meeting with MPs (members of parliament) and the big companies purchasing tobacco.

"The campaign for buying tobacco started several days ago and is expected to finish at the end of March," Naydenov said.

The participants in the meeting expressed their shared opinion that the tobacco sector in Bulgaria cannot survive without receiving subsidies from the state and the companies.

There were also negotiations with the MPs for providing BGN 70 M (48.8 M USD) to tobacco producers in the second half of 2011. The companies that purchase tobacco also confirmed that if state funding is provided, they will also agree to support the tobacco producers.

Naydenov reminded that he had already suggested additional payments to the sector that amount to BGN 143 M (99.7 M USD), which would be divided in 2011 and 2012.

About 65 percent of oriental tobacco is produced in Turkey, 25 percent in Greece and 10 percent in Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia. Thirteen EU member countries produce tobacco – with a few regions in Italy, Greece, Spain and Bulgaria being particularly active. The 27-member EU currently produces +/- 250,000 tons of raw tobacco annually, making it the world's fifth largest producer after China, the US, India and Brazil. European Union production represents 5% of worldwide production. Italy is the biggest EU producer (36% of the 27 EU member countries' total production), followed by Poland (16%), Bulgaria (12%) and Spain (12%).(EU - Agricultural markets: Raw tobacco)

Reference: Bulgarian Agriculture Ministry Mulls Support for Tobacco Sector, Novinite.com, 1/21/2011.

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