September 13 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian government said on Wednesday that it supports a draft decision introduced in parliament under which the country will not extend beyond September 15 the current EU-mandated suspension of imports of wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed from Ukraine.
Resuming imports will stimulate competition on the local market, which will reduce the prices of the main food products, help abate inflation and advance the fulfillment of criteria for Bulgaria's eurozone accession, the government said in a press release.
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In addition, the renewal of Ukrainian grain imports will also ensure the operations of cooking oil and biodiesel plants, whose output is destined for both the domestic and foreign markets and will generate additional revenue for the state, the government said.
"Since the start of 2023, the budget has failed to earn 146 million levs ($80.1 million/74.6 million euro) from imports and exports. These funds could be used for education, health and culture or to support the agricultural sector," prime minister Nikolay Denkov said.
Bulgaria has paid or allocated subsidies of around 2 billion levs for the agricultural sector in 2023, up from 1.6 billion levs last year. Out of this year's total, EU grants account for 890 million levs, with 388 million levs to come from state co-financing, 390 million levs from the state budget and 290 million levs from the agriculture ministry's budget.
Along with lifting the ban, Bulgaria will request from the European Commission additional financial support to compensate the losses of Bulgarian agricultural producers, especially sunflower growers, the cabinet added. The government will also call for the Commission's support in improving infrastructure along the so-called solidarity lanes and rail corridors in Bulgaria which are used to transit Ukrainian grain.
The proposal for a decision not to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports beyond September 15 was submitted to parliament last week by MPs from the two political formations that make up the cabinet, GERB-UDF and WCC-DB, along with MPs from the Movement of Rights and Freedoms.
The National Association of Grain Producers issued an opinion in favour of extending the grain import ban, arguing that the high volumes of cheaper imported grain threaten to put local grain producers out of business as market prices for grains do not cover their production costs.
In early May, the Commission halted the imports of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed into the so-called frontline member states - Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, after those countries began to implement or weigh up individual suspensions to tackle the burden on their respective agricultural sectors. The ban was initially due to expire on June 5 but was extended to September 15.
Bulgaria was allocated 9.77 million euro ($10.5 million) out of a 100 million euro support package agreed between the Commission and the five frontline states. Last month, the Bulgarian agriculture ministry announced 16.75 million euro in EU grants in support of local sunflower growers.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)