Bulgaria plans to lift ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine

The Committee on Economic Policy and Innovation of the Bulgarian Parliament has approved a draft decision stating that the country does not support the extension of the ban on imports of certain agricultural products from Ukraine after September 15, 2023. This is reported by Forbes Bulgaria.

Ten committee members voted in favor of the draft decision, four were against, and two abstained. The final decision must be made by the parliament at a plenary session.

The draft position of Bulgaria on agricultural imports from Ukraine states that the country does not support the extension of the emergency measure to ban imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia after September 15. The document instructs the Council of Ministers to take the necessary measures to express this position.

The draft was submitted by MPs from the PP-DB, GERB and DPS, Kirill Petkov, Delian Peevsky, Atanas Atanasov, Hamid Hamid, Rumen Khristov and Alexander Ivanov. Farmers did not welcome him, saying they were shocked by the decision.

The head of the National Association of Grain Producers, Iliya Prodanov, said that the decision did not analyze the consequences that would arise from it, and the text “jeopardizes Bulgarian producers.”

According to Prodanov, the decision threatens the agricultural sector in the country. He warned that the current tension in the sector “will one day spill over on an extremely large scale” and said that the association will protect the interests of producers “by all possible means.”

On Tuesday, the Polish government adopted a resolution declaring its intention to extend the ban at the national level if it is not extended at the EU level.

In response, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal announced that he would appeal to WTO arbitration if Poland blocks Ukrainian grain exports.

Tags: Ukraine, Bulgaria, grain, restrictions