This is how the government is currently raising the prices of dairy products, while supposedly lowering them.
This is what Lyubomir Nokov wrote on "Facebook".
It stops the import of raw milk. Not officially, but with an order from the Bulgarian Food Safety Authority to conduct laboratory checks on every tanker at the border.
The samples take 2-3 days, during which time the tankers have to wait until the milk spoils in the heat at the border.
The official motive is that there were discrepancies in the samples in May, and livestock farmers from Vidin and Ruse complain that their milk is not being purchased because of the imported raw material.
The problems are real. However, the solution is not.
To protect one part of the chain, you block the entire processing industry. The result will be bankruptcies, job losses, deficits, higher prices and the export of production to more sensible administrations. Then, instead of milk for processing, we will directly import cheese.
Why is milk imported? Because Bulgaria produces less and less milk.
The priority of our agricultural policy is grain producers, not livestock breeders. That is why the raw material comes from nearby farms in Romania, Poland and Hungary, where the policy is different. This cannot be fixed with an order in two days, but requires years of consistency.
The solution is to take as many samples as necessary, but not to detain the tankers.
Each batch is traceable, if there is a problem, they withdraw it and sanction the supplier. This is how control works in the EU. This protects the consumer, quality, and "national production" without having to set fire to an entire key sector.
Is it incompetence, chaos, or an evil advisor? It's probably a combination of all three."