Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry (Bulgaria)

The name of the ministry was changed in 2022 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry to the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Ministry of Agriculture, (Bulgarian: Министерство на земеделието, Ministerstvo na zemedelieto) of Bulgaria is the ministry charged with regulating agriculture and forestry in the country. It was founded as the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property on 24 July 1911, when it was separated from the Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture.
It was created by the Tarnovo Constitution.
The history of today's Ministry of Agriculture and Foods starts back in 1879, when in pursuance of Article 161 of the Constitution, as adopted by the Founding National Assembly in Veliko Tarnovo provided for the establishment of seven ministries, including the ministry of common buildings, agriculture and trade. After vehement discussions the first National Assembly voted that the number of the ministries will be six, whereas the ministry of common buildings, agriculture and trade, in the words of Petko Karavelov, "will integrate as it may be proper". Thus, in pursuance of Decree No.23 of 9 August 1879, the administration of the agricultural affairs in the Principality of Bulgaria was put under the helm of the Ministry of Finance, which forms an internal unit for state property along with raw materials. Its sub-governor was appointed to be Ivan Dimov Goshev.
In pursuance of Decree No.463 of 1882, there is a second attempt to found the ministry of common buildings, agriculture and trade, but two and a half years later its functions are terminated on the grounds of being incompliant with the superimposing provisions of the Tarnovo Constitution.
The Fourth Great National Assembly suggested an amendment to the Tarnovo Constitution with regard also to Article 161 defining the number of the Bulgarian ministries. Hence, issue 107 of the State Gazette dated 25 May 1893 promulgates Proclamation of Tsar Ferdinand to the Bulgarian People for the establishment of the first legal Ministry of Trade and Agriculture. In pursuance of Decree No.5 dated 19 November 1893, Panayot Slavkov was appointed its first minister. Immediately after stepping into office, Minister Slavkov submitted for consideration at the National Assembly 2 bills – the first planning the funds required for the structural organization of the Ministry of Trade and Agriculture, and the second bill that provided for the allotment of interest-free to poor farmers and farms suffering from hailstorm. The competences of the newly established the Ministry of Trade and Agriculture cover the majority of national economic sectors, such as agriculture, cattle breeding, forests, waters, mines, crafts, industry, domestic and international trade, professional agricultural and crafts schools.
In 1895 the ministry indulged also with social policy, by forming agricultural funds whose administration and management is in the hands of the ministry itself. After the establishment of the Bulgarian Agricultural Bank in 1904, the ministry takes on the control and supervision on the bank's activities as well.
With the amendment of the Tarnovo Constitution in 1911, the Ministry of Trade and Agriculture is closed and replaced with the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property. It was headed by Dimitar Hristov, the last minister of the previous Ministry of Trade and Agriculture. The organizational structure of the new ministry includes 6 directorates – agriculture, veterinary, forests, hunting and fishing, waters and state property.
Remains of a three-nave church from the 5th century with dimensions of 35 × 20 meters and a small necropolis around it have been discovered on the site of today's building of the Ministry of Agriculture.
The Ministry of Agriculture is housed in a building with Baroque architecture on 55 Hristo Botev Blvd. from 1944, designed by the Bulgarian architect Nikola Lazarov. The competition for the building of the District Palace dates back to 1912, but due to the wars the building was completed only in 1927. Today it is a cultural asset.
Until 1944, the District Chamber of the Kingdom of Bulgaria was located there and all district services were gathered in one place: the District Audit Office, the District Administration, the District Medical and Veterinary Physicians, the District Engineers and Architects, the District School Inspectors, the District Control Bureau and weights. In addition to them, the building houses the Standing Committee with its offices: Technical-School, Water Supply and Planning, the Directorate of Statistics, Forestry and the Regional Forestry Inspector.
In 1971 - 1975 a new one was built behind the old building, glued to the old one by means of an adapter-corridor.