Bulgaria is the first of the 10 countries bidding for EU membership to be allowed to administer the financial assistance provided under the SAPARD programme, Farming Minister Ventsislav Vurbanov said Tuesday. The Bulgarian farming sector stands to receive EUR 53.260 million annually until 2007. The measures which will mark the beginning of the programme are aimed entirely at the private sector. They will be taken in four directions: investment in farms, improving the processing and marketing of agricultural and fish products, developing and diversifying economic activities through alternative employment and creating producers' associations.