(SOFIA) - Hundreds of Bulgarian farmers imposed road blockades around the country Wednesday in a new action to demand agricultural state subsidies.

Traffic was stopped on major roads between Silistra and Dobric in the northeast, between Stara Zagora and Plovdiv in the south and at the Shipka pass in the Balkan mountains, national radio reported.

In Altimir, in the northwest, seven farmers were arrested as about 100 people tried to block a major crossroads leading to a Danube port without authorisation from town authorities, the radio said.

"We're backed up against the wall, we don't have the money to pay back loans we've taken to modernise our farms in line with European requirements," said the president of the milk producers' association, Andrian Tsakonski, who was one of those arrested.

"Farming is dying out. We want aid to buy feed and permanent subsidies for high-quality milk, as well as a VAT cut for food products," he added.

Funds from an earlier programme have run out and the state has proposed new subsidies but these are lower than the ones farmers used to receive.

Farmers in Kardjali, in southern Bulgaria, began protesting two weeks ago and have even threatened to move to Greece with their herds.

There have also been protests against the recent freezing of some 141 million euros in European agricultural aid.

Agriculture Minister Valeri Tsvetanov said last week that some 600 farmers, who were due to receive European aid, would be affected by the freeze.

He added that 102 irregularities had been found in the agricultural subsidy programme.

The European Commission confirmed in late July the freezing of more than 800 million euros in farming, road and regional development aid to Bulgaria over concerns of mismanagement and corruption.

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