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This study analyses the relationship between economic growth, measured by gross value added in agriculture, and greenhouse gas emissions from the sector in 30 European countries during the period 2012–2021. The aim is to assess whether the increase in agricultural production leads to a corresponding increase in harmful emissions. Regression analysis is applied to establish linear statistical dependencies between variables, cluster analysis to group countries, and analysis of trends in the dynamics of indicators. The results show significant differences between countries, with no universal relationship between economic growth and emissions. A “decoupling” between growth and emissions is observed in some countries, demonstrating the potential for “green growth.” Regional and structural differences, as well as the level of technological development, stand out as key factors determining the relationship between economic growth and emissions, highlighting the need for an individualised approach in formulating policies for the sustainable development of the agricultural sector.

This study analyses the relationships between economic development, environmental investments, and greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union for the period 2008-2022. Using correlation and regression analysis of data from Eurostat, the study assesses the impact of environmental protection expenditure and gross domestic product on greenhouse gas emissions. The results reveal a stable upward trend in environmental protection expenditure, especially in recent years, reflecting the European Union's growing commitment to sustainable development. At the same time, greenhouse gas emissions show an overall downward trend, with the sharpest decline between 2019 and 2020, likely due to the impact of the coronavirus disease pandemic. The correlation analysis confirms a significant inverse relationship between environmental investments and emissions, demonstrating the positive effect of "green" spending on reducing the carbon footprint. An important observation is that in many years, environmental expenditure has grown at a faster rate than the European Union's gross domestic product, emphasising the increased commitment to environmental issues even in conditions of economic growth. The regression analysis shows a strong relationship between the predictors (gross domestic product and environmental expenditure) and greenhouse gas emissions. Despite the expectation that economic growth would increase emissions, the results show that effective measures and technologies for reducing the carbon footprint in the European Union mitigate this effect. Based on these findings, the study proposes strategies for promoting investments in clean technologies, integrating environmental goals into economic policies, intensifying research and innovation, raising public awareness, and strengthening international cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the question of optimal farm size in the context of contemporary agricultural challenges such as rapid population growth, climate change, and limited natural resources. The analysis shows that farm economic size can have a significant impact on financial performance indicators including productivity, profitability, liquidity, solvency, and sustainability. The article provides a detailed overview of the pros and cons of different farm economic sizes and their impact on financial sustainability, drawing on academic literature, available data, and statistical methods. The results indicate that larger farms have lower factor productivity but higher solvency. Smaller farms on the other hand have higher profitability and productivity. Medium-sized farms are characterized by high liquidity and financial autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a mobile robot concept. To understand what has led to the choice of this particular design, one must first understand mobile robots in general: what are the trends, where are they used, etc. Then, some of the necessary elements for robot propulsion and navigation were considered, looking at their principle of operation, as well as their application. A description of the robot structure follows. Thanks to the software, the approximate value of the various parameters can be calculated, and an initial three-dimensional model can be built. First, the idea of the robot will be introduced in the abstract and then be outlined in detail, showing how the various components work. It will conclude by looking at the most important elements of a mobile robot, as well as what makes a robot successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the impact of subsidies on agricultural holdings of different economic sizes in Bulgaria for the period 2014-2020. The objective is to dissect the dispersion and repercussions of these subsidies on the gross and net earnings of these enterprises. The research is rooted in a thorough exploration of existing literature and utilizes a spectrum of analytical techniques, including comparative analysis, regression analysis, and fixed effects models. The findings underscore the substantial role of subsidies in shaping the revenue of Bulgarian agricultural producers. This validates the primary hypothesis that subsidies bolster the financial health of enterprises and foster the resilience of the agricultural sector overall. Nonetheless, it's crucial to note that the magnitude and efficacy of the subsidies' impact fluctuate based on the economic scale of the enterprises. This underscores the need for a differentiated approach in determining subsidy policies, taking into account the specific needs of different groups of agricultural producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the tax relief for fuels used in agricultural production in EU member states, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and other countries. Primary attention is paid to the state aid for excise duty refund of the fuels used in agriculture in Bulgaria. Previous researches prove that fossil fuel subsidies are inefficient. According to UNDP research, for every dollar pledged to tackle the climate crisis for the world's poor, four dollars are spent on fossil fuel subsidies that keep the climate crisis alive. These circumstances require a different approach and a solid need to reform fossil fuel subsidies. The main goal of the research is to identify the possibilities for the practical application of alternative approaches for economic impact in different aspects based on research and analysis of the tax policy regarding the fuels used by agriculture. Reforming energy subsidies remains a major political challenge as societies and economies experience tensions from the Covid-19 pandemic. But the prospects for recovery after the crisis are inextricably linked to the proper alternative mechanisms, especially if subsidy reform is combined with a broader range of political and economic measures to create a more stable, secure, and sustainable agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Covid 19 pandemic profoundly affected society's social and economic life. At the same time, it accelerated another long-delayed process. This is the need to modernise taxation. The European tax legislation in income taxation has stayed the same for a long time. To some extent, it is outdated. It does not correspond to the modern societal changes and the realisation of new types of income not covered by the law. Many European countries rely heavily on their income taxes on the budget's revenue side. The forecasts point to fewer and fewer opportunities to generate income due to the ageing working-age population. All these arguments determine the need for modernisation and gradual replacement of income taxes. The present study defends the thesis that a promising opportunity to compensate for the reduced revenues from income taxation is related to strengthening the environmental function of taxes. The possibility of limiting environmentally harmful substances such as pesticides through taxes has been analysed. This change the authors propose to achieve this in two ways. The first one requires eliminating differentiated reduced VAT rates for pesticides, plant protection materials and fertilisers unless the latter are organic. The second one proposes the possibility of introducing a tax on pesticides. Such a tax could limit their use as well as generate new revenue. In this regard, the experience of the few countries applying a pesticide tax is analysed. The various options for determining the tax base as a critical point in defining the tax are argued. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses articles published within the issue of the periodical related to biology and the conservation of the Lesser spotted Eagle.

The agricultural structures are under strong pressure motivated by the necessity to cut expenses and by the scarcity of time and human resources on one side and on the other side -- by the continuously rising requirements to the quality of the offered products and services. The outsourcing enables the organizations to reduce their operating costs, to concentrate on their key business, to improve the quality of the products and services they offer, to gain access to the best of technologies, to attract first class experts, to share the risks with their partners. The outsourcing in regards to the machine-and-tractors fleet in the agricultural sector can be put into practice in various directions -- planning, development of investments projects, operations management and maintenance, etc. The outsourcing differs from consultancy and from the traditional external services contracts. The consultancy just gives recommendations how to achieve the desired results, while in the outsourcing the appropriate group of experts put their own recommendations in practice. In the first case the earnings are made on advice giving, and in the second case remuneration is paid for results, and on top of that responsibilities are assumed for the spending of the funds of the contracting organisation. The traditional contracts for external machinery services usually imply ordering a job which the contracting organisation for some reason is not able to perform alone in that particular moment, but they do not intend to contract external suppliers for that as a whole for a long-term period. An example for such a contract is the contract with an external contractor for a harvesting job which, due to insufficient capacities (insufficient number of harvesters), the contracting organisation can not complete on their own within the favourable agro-technical time. However, if the enterprise decides not deal at all with this type of mechanical services and they sign with another organization a long-term agreement for external services, which is bound by the so called "key factors", then we can regard this as a case of outsourcing. Such factors could be for example: time of response and completion, costs reduction initiatives, etc. The main feature that distinguishes the outsourcing contract from the usual external service contract is the commitment to results. The economic essence of the outsourcing model involves not only performance of the contracted jobs on the bases of an agreement; it also involves delegating of powers, responsibilities and risks related to the subject matter of the contract. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agricultural enterprise should develop and implement its depreciation policy for depreciable assets, including the ones that form the machine- tractor fleet. The depreciation policy is an integral part of the accounting policy. It is a system of input assumptions, specific methods, rules and practices adopted by the enterprise and applied in its business while systematically distributing the depreciable sum of the depreciable assets during the lifetime of those, which are aimed and utilized for the purpose of making the widest and efficient use of those assets. A successful depreciation policy is an important factor for the sustainable functioning of an enterprise. The depreciation method as an element of that policy should be very carefully chosen, the consequences of that choice should be analyzed, such as the depreciation expenses. The depreciation policy incorporates also adopting approaches to: classification of the assets into long-term assets and non-material (intangible) assets, into depreciable and non-depreciable, determining the lifetime of the assets, determining the residual value, etc. The depreciation expenses of the enterprises which have purchased new farming machinery hold a considerable relative share in the total costs amount. The organisations may manage those costs depending on their goals. Tax depreciation policy equips the government with a tool for promoting farmer's structures' machines-and-tractors fleet renewal, considering the fact that as a whole the fleet of the Bulgarian farmers is morally and physically out-of-date. That can be achieved through recognizing all the depreciation methods as applicable for tax purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main task of the modern management of enterprises is to ensure management of expenses. The total amount of those depends to a great extent on the capacities of the managers to optimize the values of expenses while preserving the quality of the marketed product. Inline with this, we may argue in favour of recognising the expenses for services offered by the machines-and-tractors fleet as subject to management. The aim of an accounting system ensuring management of the expenses for the machines-and-tractors fleet is not just to identify and trace in time the work processes related to the forming of the operative costs, it also aspires at producing some indicators which could serve as an instrument of sustainable utilization of resources, control and decisions-making with a view to the maximizing the efficiency of each individual enterprise and of the entire agriculture sector as a whole. To achieve this the following directions should be followed: development of an accounts chart containing the necessary indicators to allow generating of reports to the management; regulate the documents turnover in accordance with the information required and reported in the synthetic and in the analytic accounts according to their economic contents; selection of an appropriate model of accounting for the expenses and calculating of the costs; development of a procedure for converting the accounting data into information for the management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An essential characteristic of assets constituting the machine- tractor fleet in agricultural enterprises is that during operation, they lose some of their consumer properties, leading to degradation in their performance. The usage of the equipment under such conditions is not appropriate and they need to be refurbished fully or at least to a certain extent. This is done by carrying out repair costs. The share of these costs in the cost of agricultural products is significant. The role of the accounting in planning, control and analysis of the cost of repairs is extremely high. In the accounting policy of the entities should be set precise criteria for the origin of these costs, their classification, grouping and their treatment in accordance with accounting standards [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The machine-tractor park in agricultural enterprises consumes large quantities of fuel. The fuel is the most difficult type of cost in terms of measurement and cost control. A well-organized documentation and reporting of this cost is the basis for its optimization. Accounting for the cost of fuel should be preceded by its planning, development and implementation of consumption norms, precise measuring the actual consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]