Bulgarian tobacco producers are threatening protests over the unfair distribution of subsidies.

Industry representatives are meeting Sunday in the southern Bulgarian town of Parvomay to decide on the start day of protests, according to reports of private TV station bTV.

The protests are to be in two stages, the first one including the closure of border crossing points through 24-hour blockades, and the second one protests in front of the Agriculture Ministry headquarters in Sofia.

Tobacco producers say that the distribution of national top-up payments is based on political-corporative principles.

They insist on fixed prices for the different types of tobacco and on the establishment of an independent evaluation body tasked with issuing accurate reports on the amounts of tobacco produced and evaluated.

According to reports of Nova TV, as cited by dnevnik.bg, there is disagreement within the National Tobacco Growers Association as some of its members claim that their interests are not adequately protected.