The European Commission (EC) is going to decide in a few weeks if the subsidy payments made to the Bulgarian milk producers could be considered "state aid or not," according to an EC source, cited by the Bulgaria Information Agency (BTA).
The EC must decide if the payment of BGN 60 M to the Bulgarian milk producers can be defined as state aid in compliance with the European Union (EU) rules for assistance for the member states.
If the subsidies are paid before the EC make their decision, Bulgaria was not going to be sanctioned because of the early payment. However, if the EC decides that this is state aid in violation of the EU rules, Bulgaria then could be asked to collect back the money from the milk producers.
If Bulgaria does fulfill the demand, then the EC could initiate a penalty procedure against the country, which was very unlikely, according to the source.