Bulgaria will cancel the ban on Ukrainian agricultural imports

Bulgaria’s national ban on imports of certain goods from Ukraine will be lifted after EU market stabilization measures agreed at the end of April come into effect.

This was reported by the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers of Bulgaria, “European Truth” reports with reference to Euractiv.

Due to the fact that Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia banned Ukrainian products to protect local markets from the influx of Ukrainian agricultural products, the European Commission proposed a number of measures to stabilize the market at the meeting of the EU Council on Agriculture on April 25.

The government added that Bulgaria will lift its ban from the date the EU measures come into force.

The EU measures include a second financial package to support farmers from the most affected countries in the amount of 100 million euros and the activation of emergency safeguard measures in accordance with the current Regulation on autonomous trade measures for four products (wheat, rapeseed, sunflower and maize), the import of which is temporarily prohibited from Ukraine .

The European Commission will also carry out regular monitoring of other goods and, in the event of disturbances in the market, will introduce protective mechanisms. It will also take measures to improve logistics and transit of goods from Ukraine.

On April 19, the Bulgarian government banned the import of more than 20 goods from Ukraine for two months, including wheat, wheat flour, sunflower, sunflower oil, corn, honey and beekeeping products, raw and dry milk, walnuts, hazelnuts, eggs, chicken meat , pork, sheep and goat meat, rye, barley, wine, ethyl alcohol.

Concerned that its market would be oversaturated with cereals, Bulgaria practically followed the example of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, commented the then Minister of Agriculture Yavor Gechev.

Bulgaria received EUR 16 million in compensation from the EU for allowing Ukrainian grain and food products to be exported through its territory.

The country has asked for another 50 million euros, even though Bulgarian grain producers receive hundreds of millions of euros in direct European subsidies.

May 2 European Commission adopted exceptional and temporary preventive measures regarding the import of certain agricultural goods from Ukraine.

In this way, the European Commission replaced the unilateral decisions of five countries with its own regulation and now the import ban concerns four agricultural products: wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine.

Read more here: Small agrarian blockade. We explain the consequences of the EU decision, which weakened the Polish ban.