Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Miroslav Naydenov has announced that he is working to restore exports of Bulgarian agricultural products to Russia and the Middle East.

In a Friday interview for the morning broadcast of private TV station bTV, Naydenov pointed out that he was the first Agriculture Minister to meet his Russian counterpart in decades.

Commenting on his visit to Moscow, he said that there was nostalgia on the Russian market for Bulgarian products, adding that he had spotted attempts to sell goods with labels in Bulgarian.

Bulgaria's Agriculture Minister claimed that the trick was aimed at boosting sales, specifying that the authorities were working to curb the practice.

Naydenov suggested that Bulgaria had lost the Russian market due to the trade war between Russia and the EU and due to decisions made in Bulgaria.

He informed that he had negotiated the restoration of the so-called "green corridor" through which Bulgaria exported agricultural products to the former Soviet Union.

Naydenov cited statistics of the Agriculture Ministry indicating that 38 Bulgarian companies had been given the green light to export their production to Russia, three of them dairy processors.

He made clear that exports of Bulgarian agricultural products to Russia were expected to reach around USD 80 M for 2012.

"Apart from that Bulgarian goods are also very recognizable in the Arab world," Naydenov added.

He explained that the Ambassador of Qatar had assured him that Bulgarian products had already appeared on the Qatari market, following the visit of the business delegation to Bulgaria.

Commenting on the current and future discounts on food products, which appeared on the agenda after the 3-month price freeze of staple foods in some retail chains, Naydenov explained that the step was aimed at boosting consumption.

He said that falling consumption took a heavy toll on producers.

The Agriculture Minister noted that the downward trend in consumption was most noticeable in the segment of luxury goods, which was also happening in European countries.

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