PM: There will be no sunflower imports from Ukraine unless quantity is regulated by quota

There will be no imports of sunflower from Ukraine unless the quantity is regulated by a quota, said Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov on Tuesday at the Council of Ministers after a meeting with representatives of the farmers who staged a nationwide protest on September 18-19.

“We are going to have a conversation with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, during which I will explain that we have discussed the inclusion of a certain quota for Bulgaria which will be settled when we specify how big it will be. We will not allow imports from Ukraine in the near term,“ Denkov assured.

Finance Minister Assen Vassilev and Agriculture Minister Kiril Vatev also took part in the talks. Denkov described them as difficult and tense, but pointed out that all participants united around the desire to seek solutions to the five pressing problems for agriculture. He stressed that the government can propose a solution or at least explain how it will seek solution to each of the issues raised by the farmers.

The protests were provoked by the lifting of a ban on Ukrainian food imports by the Bulgarian Parliament on September 14.

“Regarding the other products, negotiations are also underway with the European Commission and Ukraine, together with the agriculture ministers of the EU Member States,” the Prime Minister added.

The Prime Minister highlighted that so far the products imported from Ukraine are free of violations and deviations and that they are subjected to checks like all products imported from third countries.

Denkov noted that the cabinet made a commitment to pay the compensations requested by the protesters by September 30. The Agriculture Ministry will shorten the deadline for submitting applications and payments will be made as quickly as possible, within a week or two, he added.

Earlier on Tuesday, Vatev met with the protesters in Dolni Bogrov to discuss the issues in the industry and possible solutions.