SOFIA -- Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Ventsislav Varbanov said on Wednesday the country had enough wheat in stock to meet needs without imports until the new crop in July and that reports of a shortage were untrue.

"We witness fresh attacks against the government, misrepresentation of facts and manipulation attempts by certain people and media in the allegations that Bulgaria is short of wheat," Varbanov told a news conference.

"I do not have any concerns about the sustainability of the wheat balance because we have plenty of grain to meet all our consumption needs until the new harvest with no imports," he said.

Varbanov put wheat stocks from last year's crop at some 575,000 tons, of which 275,000 were stored at public warehouses licensed by the state, farmers held 200,000-250,000 tons and millers held 100,000.

"Monthly consumption amounts to 80,000-100,000 tons and it is easy to calculate that we'll have enough wheat until July," Varbanov said.

But earlier this week, leading analysts and traders said Bulgaria's wheat shortage stood at some 180,000 tons in early January and was caused by a drop in the 2000 wheat crop accompanied by intense exports.

Traders and analysts put last year's wheat output at 2.8 million tons, down from 3.1 million in 1999 due to protracted drought, and said 504,000 tons of the 2000 crop had been exported so far, while annual consumption was 2.52 million tons.

Bulgaria's Statistics Office (NSI) put last year's crop at 2.84 million tons but the ministry maintains that the harvest was not reduced and put it at 3.1 million, flat from 1999.

However, the government has allowed unlimited duty-free imports of wheat in January-June this year to beat a possible shortage as a result of the drought, the worst in decades.

Varbanov said the ministry's figures on grain output were more reliable than any other official data.

"Our figures are based on a new statistical method under which we collect data in the field, while NSI figures are incomplete and fail to show the real situation because they collect data from municipal authorities," he said.

But a report on the ministry's statistical method, which was introduced in 1999, said this method allowed for an error margin of up to 71.49 percent.

Some traders say the government has played down the impact of the drought on grain output and has issued optimistic data because it faces general election this year. A grain crisis in 1996/97 helped bring down the previous socialist cabinet.

(Reuter)