Bulgarian Tobacco Growers to Stage Fresh Road Blockade

Bulgarian tobacco growers are protesting the delayed purchase campaign and low prices. File photo BGNES

Disgruntled tobacco growers will stage a protest rally on Friday, threatening to block the road to Gotse Delchev and Drama (Greece), near the village of Gospodintsi in southwestern Bulgaria.

The demonstration will take place between 2 pm and 4 pm. They are protesting the delayed purchase campaign and low prices of tobacco.

Farmers insist on prices of no less than BGN 6.50 per kilogram. Tensions among them escalated after the first days of the new year, when the belated purchase campaign finally began, but at a much lower price than expected - about BGN 5.30 per kilogram.

If the crop remains unsold by the end of the month, there is a real danger that the tobacco, which is the livelihood for thousands of Bulgarian people, will go moldy.