“This year, we expect bankruptcies of Bulgarian farmers”, said the chief executive of the “Agrobusiness center of Dobrudja” Ivan Gochev. According to him, these grim expectations are based on several facts. “We have very low purchase prices. Since the beginning of 2008, the prices have dropped three times.

“We welcomed 2008 with prices of about 450 leva per ton of wheat, and now the price is about 150-160 leva per ton. We expect further decrease of prices, but farmers are once again holding back their produce in hopes of higher prices”, explained Gochev. According to him, Bulgaria is in the process of exporting 100 000 tons of grain for the Middle East and North Africa. “After about five days the export is over and we expect further drop of prices”, added the expert. Right now, just the region of Dobrich has 400 000 tons of wheat in stock.

The price of sunflowers dropped to 350 leva per ton. The demand for it is low. The sunflowers have to be exported, because production of cooking oil is very low, and the harvest is big. Only corn is still holding a relatively good price of 180 leva per ton.