Бизнес

The harder a job is, the greater the chance of mobilizing a lot of effort and getting it done well. This proved another Feast of Potatoes, which was the jubilee fifth in a row. It was not easy for the organizers from the Agency for Regional Development-Center for Business and Information, which in recent months went through a number of difficulties and obstacles in their work. Eventually, on October 16 at the Central Mineral Beach, the Potato Festival was held with great interest by both the participating companies and the residents and guests of the city. Even the bad rainy weather did not interfere, and visitors surprisingly were even more than previous years.
The temporary mayor Stoyan Dulev, who in the official invitations was declared patron of the holiday, did not appear at the event. Instead, on behalf of the municipality, the deputy mayor Recep Hodzhov gave a speech. Tsvyatko Georgiev from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry conveyed the greetings to Deputy Minister Boyko Boev and assessed the forum as a great opportunity for exchange of experience and rapprochement, for pooling efforts to develop potato production. The Deputy Minister Meglena Plugchieva also sent a greeting to the participants, and on behalf of the "Employment through Business Support - JOBS" program, which has been a partner of the event for years, Maria Koleva wished success. "There is no greater joy for the organizers than that the Feast of Potatoes in Velingrad is already a tradition," said the executive director of the ARP-CBI Vaska Milusheva. Among the official guests were the President of the National Association of Bulgarian Potato Growers Mr. Trendafilov, who is an adviser to President G. Parvanov, the chairman of the Municipal Council N. Kehayov and many municipal councillors. All of them applauded the performance of the girls from the music school "Zvanche" of the popular "Ode to Potatoes" based on lyrics by Anna Margova and music by Ivan Kazaliev.
Their production showed 18 companies producing potatoes and seeds from Velingrad, Samokov, Sarnitsa, Plovdiv, Pazardjik, Sofia, Vsemyrtsi. They all gave high praise to the Feast of Potatoes, which provides them with the opportunity to find partners and customers. Sarnitsa boasted that they no longer have problems with purchasing the production, as almost all of it leaves for Sofia. The most fruitful part of the Festival for the specialists from the branch were the held a day earlier annual meeting of the Association of Bulgarian Potato Growers and the subsequent meeting-discussion on the hot topic "The problems of potato producers before and after our admission into the European Union". Sponsors provided 300 liters of free beer free of charge from the Sofia brewery and 200 kg of french fries, queues were drawn in front of the beer and potato stands. For the entertainment of the visitors of the holiday took care the Representative brass orchestra and cheerleading squad, music school "Zvanche", the group for popular songs to the community center "Otets Paisii". Admiration and applause caused the sports show of the ladies of the third age from club "Health", who under the leadership of Diana Daskalova showed their new gymnastic composition. And the folk singer Guna Ivanova with her Macedonian pearls made the audience horo for a long time and feel really festive.
This year, too, many Golden Potato Awards were given out at the Feast of Potatoes. The awards for the most attractive seller and for a potato with the most interesting shape were won by Ivan Volev from Samokov (see photo). "Biostart" Ltd. won the prize for the best arranged stand, and "Bonero" Ltd. for the greatest variety. The award for the most potatoes sold won ET "Atanas Birnikov", which sold 400 kg in an hour or two. The National Agricultural Advisory Service deservedly won the award for most visited stand, as it offered a wide range of printed materials on the most interesting topics for visitors and participants. The "Golden Potato" award for the largest potato won "Agroconsult and Services" with a specimen weighing 1.400 kg.
The celebration of potatoes was held thanks to the organizers: Association of Bulgarian Potato Growers, Municipality of Velingrad, ARP-CBI - Velingrad and the sponsors: Program "Jobs" of MLSP, brewery "Sofia", cinema "V. Levski", AP, "Scorpion", "Mariam", "At. Birnikov", "Semika" and others. And I hope that next year they will again lend a hand so as not to interrupt the tradition and the Feast of Potatoes to gather more and more friends and associates.
Elena Baeva