Бизнес

Thierry Debar and Christophe Ludd from the French co-operative of corto-producers Kopar visited on October 11 in Velingrad. In the Center for Business and Information they told about their experience in the field of association of farmers in front of their Bulgarian colleagues from the Association of Potato Growers.

This is the second visit of the French to our city since they came to see the potato production grounds last year. Mr. Debar announced that a Kopar cooperative from the city of Limoges will provide Bulgarian potato producers with technical assistance in the field of commercialization of production. Being specialists in seed production, they will also help in trying to grow different varieties of potatoes. Technical assistance will be implemented thanks to the Embassy of France in Bulgaria. And the beginning of the financial aid from the French side is already a fact - as in v. Tempo wrote, four Bulgarian representatives a month ago were in Limoges and got to know the French experience in practice.
The guests explained that the producers of potatoes for consumption in France are united. They are all shareholders in a cooperative that has a light structure and allows everyone to participate in the management. Mr. Christophe Lud presented the large cooperative Kopar, which works on 40 hectares of land, has 3 storage bases and all kinds of seeds. Within the large cooperative there are microcooperatives. Participants in microcooperatives use free and on schedule expensive equipment with the condition to return it in the same form. All potato production is collected in the large cooperative and its task is to realize it on the market as a commodity.
The French advised their colleagues in Bulgaria to also establish branch associations in order to commercialize their production more successfully. Steps in the right direction have already been made with the establishment of the Potato Growers Association. We are witnessing an evolution of the Association, it was the valuable praise from Mr. Debar.