“The amendments to the implementing regulations on the Tobacco and Tobacco Products Act envisage extra payment for quality tobacco”, Mehmed Dikme, Agriculture Minister, said at a press conference on October 25. The proposal for the size of the bonuses will be submitted to the Cabinet in two weeks’ time. At present, the State pays a bonus only for the amount purchased. This bonus will go up by 10 % this year. Growers of broad-leaf varieties of high quality will be granted bonuses. As to Oriental varieties, incentives will be provided for first- and second-grade tobacco. The money for the bonuses will be taken from the Tobacco Fund, which is expected to amount to BGN 84 M next year. The government approved a new timetable of bonus payments. Growers of broad-leaf varieties will start receiving their bonuses from November15. It was decided that bonuses will be payable within 60 days of crop gathering. “Half of the growers may go bankrupt because of unpaid bonuses for two years in a row”, the Deputy Chairman of the Association of Private Tobacco Growers said at a news conference before the announcement of the governmental decision.