The Polish tomato in Bulgaria turned into what the Polish plumber was for the Brits years ago. The Polish tomatoes, withdrawn from the Russian market, chased away the so loved Bulgarian ones, with their wonderful taste and scent.

The social networks registered some indignation, as that was something unthinkable 15 -20 years ago. We’ve got used to the fact that Bulgaria imports about 85 percent of the fruits and vegetables consumed here, but now it is all seen as a blow against the symbol of our agriculture – the red tomato. “We had rains, hails and now this invasion,” farmers cry out. They threaten with the loss of Bulgarian tomatoes as of next year.

How did it all happen?

We are not only losing the Russian market, but we may lose the Bulgarian one too, alarms Slavi Trifonov, chair of the National Union of Gardeners. We, Bulgarian farmers, are the most vulnerable, as we receive the lowest subsidies on fruits and vegetables within the EU, down to ten times lower, he explains. How can we be competitive? As far as tomatoes are concerned, we suffer once more: Bulgaria hasn’t contracted with the EU additional subsidies for tomatoes and peaches for processing, the way Poland and others have done it. The lack of control on the markets lets those over-subsidized tomatoes invade them.

We know that trick, we’ve seen it all with the Greek tomatoes, the farmer is outraged.

“Our traders go by vans, buy tomatoes, designed for processing and the Greek producer receives his subsidy, but then they pour them out on the market directly and not in the canning factories – this is not right. However, there is no control in Bulgaria. Only when I spot the Polish tomatoes, I see those are for processing. It is cheap to them with the additional processing subsidy.”

The Bulgarian gardeners want EC compensations on the losses they will have to suffer. The issue is to be tackled on 5 September in Brussels by the agricultural ministers of the 28. Fruit and vegetables producers in this country insist on the greater attention by the Bulgarian authorities. Their sector was unforgivably neglected over the initial 7-year-long period of CAP support for Bulgaria. They also insist on the ceasing of non regulated import. It comes from two directions here: the western one – France, Spain, Holland, Poland… Our neighbors are next: Macedonia, Greece, Turkey…

“Anything, imported from abroad comes as “fresh fruits and vegetables” and those are actually not,” Mr. Trifonov underlines. “Do we want those for our children? “Fresh” in France, Spain and Italy means no more than 200 km spent on the road. Poland is 3,000 km away from Bulgaria. No one can persuade me that those tomatoes have not been treated, in order to arrive with this fresh outlook after the long trip. I guarantee that those have been treated with pesticides and their action has been calculated to expire right upon their arrival.”

Do we stand behind the Bulgarian tomato?

Many countries started campaigns in support of their own fruits and vegetables /and farmers/. Poland quickly invented the remake slogan: A Polish apple a day keeps Putin away. Shall we defend the Bulgarian tomato, even though it is twice more expensive? There still hasn’t been a campaign for buying Bulgarian tomatoes and this is not right…

Farmers’ morals down low:

“We won’t eat Bulgarian fruits and vegetables next year,” Slavi Trifonov, who is looking after cherry orchards, foresees. “We will continue the struggle with perennials, since it is hard to eradicate those. However, if this embargo continues, no one will bother to grow vegetables – only those, who take it as a hobby…”

The EU has decided to pay EUR 125 mln. of compensation to farmers, who will suffer losses due to the Russian embargo. The support is aimed at those, who will withdraw their production from the market or will provide it for free to kindergartens, hospitals etc. The final goal is to prevent a collapse in the prices of embargo fruits and vegetables and the income of the farmers to be protected. A list has been prepared of the most imported to Russia perishable fruits and vegetables. Peaches are the most affected, followed by pears, apples etc. Peaches and frozen raspberries will be the most suffering fruits in this country.

English version: Zhivko Stanchev