Up to 40% of Bulgaria’s registered livestock found to be ‘virtual’

Between 30% and 40% of animals registered in the system of the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency are nonexistent, according to inspection data, caretaker Agriculture Minister Ivan Hristanov said in a social media post. "These are effectively virtual animals used to claim subsidies," he said.

Inspectors have checked more than 400 cattle farms. Of the 25,000 animals verified, only 16,000 were found to be physically present, meaning that 36% were missing.

Inspections of small ruminants (sheep and goats) covered 33,000 animals, of which only 23,000 were found, leaving around 10,000 unaccounted for — roughly 30%.

"These are phantom animals used for all kinds of fraud schemes. On the one hand, we have little on our tables and what we do have is expensive; on the other, some people are pocketing the money,” Hristanov said.

He added that the food agency’s registration system would be fully functional again, giving farmers access to real-time information on disease outbreaks, neighbouring farms and livestock numbers. The withholding of such data until now had created conditions for fraud, he said.

Editor: Miglena Ivanova