The Minister of Agriculture and Food Kiril Vatev held an online meeting with the agriculture ministers of Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia in connection with the difficulties of the agrarian sector due to the increased import of agricultural products from Ukraine. The Deputy Minister of Agriculture Tanya Georgieva also participated in the discussion.
The meeting discussed Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/1100 of the European Commission, with which the ban on the import of wheat, corn, rape and sunflower in the territory of the five member states was extended until September 15, 2023.
Minister Kiril Vatev stated that the problems with the export corridors for Ukrainian grain are common, and in the warehouses of the Bulgarian grain producers grain is currently available, which for the various crops exceeds by between 37 and 60% the quantities of a year ago. “These volumes are far above the usual, and the harvest of the new crop is coming very soon,” the minister emphasized.
Agri-ministers also discussed the European Commission’s proposal to provide 100 million euros from the agricultural reserve for 2023 to help farmers producing cereals and oilseeds in the five affected frontline countries. In this regard, Minister Vatev pointed out that Bulgarian agricultural producers are currently suffering serious losses and the issue must be considered in the long-term.