Bulgaria to ban imports of sunflower seeds from Ukraine

Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov has announced his plans to stop imports of sunflower seeds from Ukraine shortly after the parliament decided not to extend the emergency measures banning imports of wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine after 15 September.

Source: Denkov, after several hours of talks with farmers protesting against the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, as reported by European Pravda, citing Bulgarian National Radio (BNR)

Details: The prime minister said imports of Ukrainian sunflower seeds will continue as soon as the quota is agreed with Kyiv. The official added that he would discuss the quota issue with his Ukrainian counterpart, Denys Shmyhal.

"I will soon have a conversation with the Ukrainian Prime Minister, during which I will explain that during today's discussions, we have agreed that there will be a certain quota for Bulgaria, and this quota will be allowed for imports to Bulgaria only after we specify how large it is and what it is about. We will not allow imports of sunflower seeds from Ukraine in the short term," Denkov said.

He also stressed that no violations of the quality requirements for agricultural products imported from Ukraine have been identified so far.

For his part, Bulgaria's Finance Minister Asen Vasilev specified that imports of sunflower seeds from Ukraine will be allowed subject to clear volumes agreed between farmers and the processing industry.

"As for other products, negotiations are also underway between the European Commission and Ukraine, together with the EU agriculture ministers, on whether other products mentioned in the first point of the protesters' demands may be included," Denkov said.

Meanwhile, the farmers said they would end the rally when the protesters see and approve of the commitments made by the authorities.

Background:

• On Monday, farmers and owners of processing plants in Bulgaria reportedly brought heavy machinery to road junctions to protest against the parliament's decision not to extend emergency measures banning imports of wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine after 15 September.
• On Saturday, tensions between the government and farmers escalated after Denkov called some protesters terrorists.
• Last Thursday, Bulgaria's National Assembly voted to support the lifting of the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products after 15 September.
• On Friday, the European Commission announced that it would not extend restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine after 15 September, but Kyiv has agreed to take measures to limit imports.

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