Prof. Hristo Bozukov will manage agriculture pragmatically, correctly and competently

On 27 January Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozukov assumed office as Minister of Agriculture and Food.

At the official inauguration ceremony the new Minister of Agriculture and Food Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozukov emphasized that in the coming months he would work for Bulgaria and Bulgarian agriculture. “As President of the Agricultural Academy and Director of the Tobacco Institute, I have always distanced myself from party biases. For me, my party has been tobacco production, and from now on also agriculture,” Prof. Bozukov added, expressing his gratitude for the work of Minister Desislava Taneva and her team.

In an interview for the Bulgarian National Radio, the Minister of Agriculture and Food in the caretaker government, Prof. Hristo Bozukov, categorically dispelled the doubts, circulated in the media, that he is connected with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). His professional affiliation with tobacco production is not a motive for such claims, he stated. Prof. Bozukov is a leading Bulgarian scientist and phytopathologist. His career development is closely linked to the Institute of Tobacco and Tobacco Products in the village of Markovo, Plovdiv region.

Minister Bozukov categorically confirmed that he has dismissed all four former Deputy Ministers. He will manage the institution with three or two Deputy Ministers. He did not hide that he is experiencing certain difficulties in selecting his deputies, but expressed confidence that he is able to resolve this key issue. After all, he concluded, agricultural experts in Bulgaria have not been exhausted. To the question whether there would also be changes among the managers at the lower levels of the administrative hierarchy, his answer was laconic: “Yes, there will be!”

Minister Bozukov informed that an inspection of the activities of the mega-structures of the institution has been launched – the State Fund “Agriculture”, the Executive Forest Agency and the Bulgarian Food Safety Agency (BFSA), as well as of the larger structurally defining enterprises within the system of the Ministry. He is of the opinion that, in all likelihood, there are intentional or unintentional violations; the question is whether the new leadership of the Ministry will have the time to identify them and respond within the framework of the legal provisions.

Regarding the explosive issue – the deplorable condition of the Agricultural Academy – Minister Bozukov is categorical: “I am morally, professionally and officially obliged to alleviate the humiliating fate of Bulgarian agricultural science!”

Prof. Dr. Hristo Bozukov – brief biography

Prof. Dr. Bozukov graduated from the Higher Agricultural Institute in Plovdiv in 1985 with a degree in “Engineer-Agronomist in Plant and Soil Protection” and a specialization in “Plant Protection Technologies in Field Crops”. He defended his doctoral dissertation “Doctor in Phytopathology” in 1999, and in 2003 he was habilitated as Senior Research Associate in the scientific field “Plant Protection”.

He began his scientific career at the Institute of Tobacco and Tobacco Products (ITTP) in 1984. Initially he was a trainee agronomist, and later became Director of the scientific unit, a post he held from 2007, when he became President of the Agricultural Academy in 2013. He remained in this position until 2015. Until his appointment in the caretaker government as Minister, the tobacco expert worked at the Institute of Tobacco and Tobacco Products in the village of Markovo, Plovdiv region.

The Professor is known for his clear position regarding the financial independence of the Agricultural Academy and the selection of staff from the institutes, rather than on the basis of political affiliation.

Prof. Dr. Bozukov is the author of over 110 scientific publications, applied scientific articles and reports, 6 manuals, handbooks and methodologies. He also holds 7 authors’ certificates in the field of tobacco production and plant protection and is the author of two oriental tobacco varieties, recognized by the Expert Commission of the Executive Agency for Variety Testing, Field Inspection and Seed Control (IASAS) and protected with authors’ certificates from the Patent Office of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The Professor’s latest award, prior to his assuming ministerial office, is the 2016 award of the Bulgarian Association of Agricultural Producers (BARZ) for “Contribution to Applied Agricultural Science”, which was presented to four scientists and lecturers, devoted for life to plant protection, on the Plant Protection Specialist’s Day in Plovdiv.