Bulgaria’s Kabiyuk Enterprise Accused of Mismanagement Amid Deepening Financial Hole
Jerusalem, 9 June, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Shumen (BTA) – Bulgaria’s state-owned agricultural enterprise “Kabiyuk” has accumulated debts of nearly 1.68 million euros, and employees have not received salaries in the last four months. This was announced by members of the company’s Management Board at a press conference at the BTA National Press Club in Shumen, where they presented information about the economic and factual situation of the stud farm.
“We were officially registered with the Registry Agency in May as members of the company’s Board of Directors, shortly before that we took over at Kabiyuk, as the previous Board of Directors handed over power to us. There was 95 euros in the cash register, there was about 10,000 euros in the account. People had not received salaries since January, and there were three unpaid debts. Four invoices to the energy transmission company had not been paid,” said the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kabiyuk, Zvezdalin Zvezdev.
According to him, before the arrival of the new Board of Directors of the company, not a single decare of spring crops had been sown and the land had not been prepared for sowing, and there was almost no diesel in the company’s tanks. Three invoices had also been issued to the fuel supplier, Zvezdev pointed out. He also said that there had been a disputed public procurement for seeds, which had also delayed the provision of the seeds themselves.
“If 10,000 acres are not sown and no yields are obtained from them, this leads directly to a scenario of liquidation of the enterprise. We believe that there was such a plan,” commented Zvezdev.
He added that the farm had about 500 lambs, for which offers of about 5 euros per kilogram were made before Easter and St. George’s Day, but they were not accepted by the previous management. “We had to sell the animals after the holidays at a significantly lower price, when the market had already fallen,” Zvezdev added.
The Chairman of the Management Board also commented on whether directors and board members can receive salaries of 15,000-25,000 leva ($8,800-$14,700) in a loss-making enterprise that has a million and a half euros in debts to suppliers. “Purely morally, the problem is big,” noted the Chairman of the Management Board of the State Enterprise “Kabiyuk”.
The company owes over 140,000 euros to the National Revenue Agency for insurance contributions, and the salary obligations of the workers and employees are 186,000 euros, Zvezdev pointed out.
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The company has a contract with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, because it preserves a large part of the autochthonous breeds in Bulgaria, he pointed out. “For their breeding in a year we incur some expenses. They are predictable and in the last contract, which was signed in December 2025, they are about 1.9 million leva ($1.1 million). This money is due for the past year in the current year. The tendency has been every year in April to request an advance of this amount in order to cover current expenses for salaries and sowing, etc., this was not done by the previous management, we do not know whether it was intentional or not. Every year so far, they have submitted such a request at the beginning of April. At the time of joining, we submitted such a request for financial payment,” commented Zvezdev.
“This is the main source of financial resources that the enterprise can have at the moment. We are waiting for this money, we are not waiting for help from the state, we are waiting for the money under the contract that we have with the state. We have assurances that work is being done on the case to receive this money so that we can pay the salaries,” added Zvezdev.
He also announced that a minimum advance of 150 euros was paid to the workers on the occasion of Kurban Bayram with funds from the sale of several horses.
The full audits and reports on the violations identified have already been sent to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, and according to Zvezdev, the materials are about to be submitted to the prosecutor’s office.
Board member Ivaylo Antonov noted that the goal is for the people in the enterprise to receive their wages. “Their work is related to round-the-clock care for animals, they work in the fields. Their work is hard and physical,” he added.
“There is no way to steal, not to manage and not to have the state notice it,” commented Dr. Valentin Atanasov, a member of the Management Board of the Kabiyuk State Enterprise. “With so much land and so many animals, you are at a loss, not to plant 10,000 acres of land, not to pay your workers and not to impress anyone… The intention to destroy this enterprise is obvious,” he commented. According to him, over the years, the sheep and horses in the Kabiyuk State Enterprise have been reduced, relying on field farming, probably because yields are more secure there.
Zvezdev also announced that on June 5, the power supply to the enterprise was stopped due to debts of about 60,000 euros to the electricity distribution company. This left the animals on the farm and the residents of the village of Konyovets without water. The power supply was restored on Friday evening after emergency intervention and guarantees from the Minister of Agriculture, Zvezdev said. According to him, the management of the enterprise maintains daily communication with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.
As BTA reported, a bust-monument of Prince Alexander I of Bulgaria was unveiled on August 30, 2025 at the Kabiyuk State Enterprise . “With the renovation of the Tsarev Brod – Konyovets road, we wanted to prove that we should not separate the villages from the city. Our goal is to gradually improve the living environment and standard of living in small settlements,” said the mayor of Shumen Municipality, Prof. Hristo Hristov, in December 2025, at the opening of the renovated road.
