Georgi Vassilev, the organizational secretary of the Bulgarian Pepper Association, is adamant that a large part of the funds under the European agricultural support schemes is being misused and that all institutions have been informed about this.
"At least 50-60 percent of all money coming in for agriculture from the European Union is being stolen," Vassilev said.
Asked how this is done, he replied: "Stealing is very easy, in our case the money is used per acre, some declare that they will plant X thousand hectares with this crop, they do not plant them, there is no control so they collect their money. This is the scheme, it is very simple. If someone declares that he will plant something, he should be checked if he has planted it, at least 5% of the areas. And they have been checking at least 5% of the areas for 10 years now and always declare that there are no thefts. "
"We represent 17 associations and we inform absolutely everyone – the European Union, the National Assembly, the Prime Minister, the President, absolutely everyone," Georgi Vassilev explained to BNR.
"We do not expect any sanctions and we know that there will be no sanctions. No one has violated anything, "he added to his expectations.
