Bulgarian Tobacco Growers Refuse to Cancel Protest on Jan 6

Tsvetan Filev, Chair of Bulgaria's National Association of Tobacco Growers, photo by bgnes

Bulgaria's National Association of Tobacco Growers has refused to cancel the protest scheduled for January 6 in the southern town of Harmanli.

Tsvetan Filev, Chair of the National Association of Tobacco Growers, explained Saturday that the rally would be held despite the fact that tobacco buying companies had started purchasing 'Basma-type' tobacco.

Filev, as cited by the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency, noted that industry representatives were angry over the delay of the purchasing campaign for this type of tobacco and the fact that the purchase price had dropped by BGN 2 compared to last year.

He insisted that a kilogram of this type of tobacco sold for twice as much in Greece.

He said that tobacco growers feared that the delay of the purchasing process would have a negative impact on the quality of the tobacco, 70% of which had been packed in bales and was ready to be sold.

Filev informed that the protest was to start at 10 am on Monday and that tobacco growers planned to block the E80 road.

He added that he expected representatives of Bulgaria's Ministry of Agriculture and Food to attend the demonstration.

Filev underscored that tobacco growers were not protesting against the state authorities but against tobacco buying companies, adding that tobacco growers did not want anything from the state at this point.

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