In the context of duty-free supplies of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU market, Bulgaria insists on additional protection for its agricultural producers, in addition to 16.75 million euros, which are provided for in the crisis reserve of the European Commission.
“We remain in solidarity with Ukraine, but we are seeing serious problems and as a result we asked the European Commission to take anti-crisis measures and take a more balanced attitude towards the corridors of solidarity ( created by the EU for food exports from Ukraine – IF )”, – said the Minister of Agriculture of Bulgaria Yavor Gechev at a meeting of the advisory council for grain at the ministry. Gechev’s words are given in a press release from the department.
According to the minister, Bulgaria’s agricultural sector is currently “suffering from market anomalies” due to the conflict in Ukraine.
He recalled that Bulgarian President Rumen Radev sent a joint letter with the leaders of Hungary, Romania, Poland and Slovakia to the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, in which the national position of the country is presented. In particular, it is proposed to introduce temporary duties on the import of certain goods, in case of exceeding the capacity for their storage and processing by countries for a more even distribution of agricultural products in the single European market.
“Bulgaria also offers the EU to provide additional measures and guarantees to speed up grain exports to third countries,” the minister said.
Gechev said that the regulation on the Central Food Traceability Register, which digitizes the process of importing, trading and storing grain, has now been published and submitted for public discussion.
In turn, grain producers during the meeting of the advisory council said that as a result of the current economic situation, “the sector has reached a critical point, and its future depends on the actions that will be taken in the coming months,” the report says.
Associated Press previously noted that the decision of the European Union to exempt agricultural products from Ukraine from duties eventually led to a glut of local markets and lower prices. This causes dissatisfaction among European farmers.
Ukrainian grains and oilseeds enter and remain in unprecedented quantities in EU Member States bordering Ukraine. In addition, the Ukrainian agro-industrial complex began to export a large amount of poultry meat, eggs and honey to Europe, the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture commented on the situation.
Source : interfax.ru
