During the last month of the year, State Fund Agriculture (SFA) successfully administered a significant amount of funding to farmers and Rural Development Programme (RDP) beneficiaries – 275 million leva.
In accordance with the commitment that SFA had undertaken, 21 716 stockbreeders received over 80.5 million leva – 51 million for cattle, buffalos, sheep and goats as complementary national payments, and 29.5 million for dairy cows as payments from the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund.
Strong emphasis was put on absorbing funds under the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD). Just in December, 195 million leva were paid out including cofinancing from the EAFRD.
Under Axis 2 of the RDP, which includes payments for less-favored regions and agri-environment, there were over 65 million leva paid out. For a first time, Axis 2 subsidies were paid out before the year’s end.
Exceptional efforts were focused into authorization and payments under the Rural Development Programme. The funding there reached 130 million leva for the month of December.
Also in December, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food created a Guarantee Fund under the RDP for the amount of 335 million leva. Considering this fund’s capitalization and the n + 2 rule, SFA reports complete funding absorption for the current period.