Bulgarian farmers threaten animal exodus

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgarian farmers threatened a revolt and migration of animals to neighbouring Greece on Wednesday if the government failed to pay long-delayed milk subsidies.

Around 250 milk producers rallied in front of the agriculture ministry in Sofia as part of mounting protests across the Balkan country that included slaying cattle and blocking roads.

Farmers in the European Union newcomer are struggling with high feed prices after a drought slashed crops last year, and after the European Commission froze about 250 million euros (200 million pounds) in pre-accession farm aid over suspected fraud earlier this year.

"If we don't get the money by the end of the week ... we will start erecting barricades, use stones, stakes and manure (to protest)," said Andrian Tsakonski, chairman of the national milk producers association.

"(A) more serious offensive is still to come and they (the government) will eventually bear the responsibility for their negligence and inefficiency," he added.

Farmers said they had brought around 2,000 sheep and 150 cows close to the border with Greece in southern Bulgaria and were ready to cross if the government delayed payments further.

They said reports of brucellosis outbreaks in northern Greece -- a bacterial disease that affects sheep, goats and cattle -- would not change their plans to move the herds to put pressure on the government in Sofia.

"Better brucellosis in Greece than starvation in Bulgaria," local media quoted Boiko Sinapov, leader of the protests in the southern town of Kurdzhali, as saying.

In a move to ease the tension, the agriculture ministry has pledged to start paying the delayed subsidies for March from this week but farmers say they have received no money so far.