Bulgarian processor: All actions of the Bulgarian government are aimed at preventing imports of Ukrainian sunseed

Currently, there is no sunseed trade from Ukraine to Bulgaria at all. Everything is slowed down by the license regime that still exists. And for the last three or four months, it has remained completely non-transparent.

Preslav Raikov, the trade manager of the Bulgarian oil extraction company Magic Flame, told Latifundist.com about this in an interview.

According to him, every action of the Bulgarian government is aimed at officially and unofficially preventing the import of sunseed from Ukraine.

“The main obstacle is the unwillingness of the Bulgarian government to allow these imports, which uses all means to block them, which causes disappointment among Ukrainian partners. They are reasonably reluctant to continue doing business, citing discrepancies between words and actions, as contracts cannot be fulfilled due to licensing issues,” says Preslav Raikov.

At the same time, Bulgarian processors are willing to buy sunseed in Ukraine.

“We are eager to cooperate and buy in Ukraine, offering competitive prices, perhaps even better than Turkish ones. Bulgaria’s need for an additional two million tons of sunflower seeds over and above its current harvest, coming from various countries including Ukraine, Moldova, Croatia, Serbia and Poland, is urgent,” says Magic Flame’s representative.

He believes that the Bulgarian government is under pressure from local farmers who mistakenly believe that imports of Ukrainian seeds are detrimental to their interests.

“In fact, Ukrainian imports are often more expensive than local seeds, and their presence does not reduce local prices. On the contrary, when the flow of Ukrainian seeds decreases, prices for refined sunflower oil and meal fall on the global and European markets, which affects the profitability of Bulgarian farmers,” explains Preslav Raykov.

Tags: Bulgaria, sunseed, restrictions, Ukraine