Bulgaria lacks sunflower seeds

Today there is a shortage of sunflower seeds in Bulgaria, which is why sunflower oil producers are preparing for protests. The reason for the shortage is the shortage of sunflower seeds in Bulgaria due to the suspension of Ukrainian imports.

“We need a constant flow of sunflower seeds because the capacity we have is twice as much as the raw material we produce. We are protesting against the policy of restricting free trade and against the policy directed against the interests of farmers by the line ministry,” said the chairman of the Union of Vegetable Oils and Cream Products Producers in Bulgaria – Yani Yanev.

According to him, due to the official ban on sunseed imports from Ukraine until September 15, there is practically no inflow of raw materials.

“Now we are in the licensing regime for sunflower imports from Ukraine. However, Kiev does not issue licenses because it is interested in keeping it in the country. They have a large manufacturing industry that exceeds their production. Therefore, access to Ukrainian sunflower is impossible at the moment,” Yanev said, emphasizing that Ukraine is the largest exporter of sunflower oil.

According to him, Bulgarian products will be bought when our producers decide that the price at which they can sell sunseed is acceptable to them.
Imports from Romania and Moldova take place, but not in large quantities. The goal of our industry is to better utilize capacity to achieve competitive oil prices. Because last year 90% of our production was for export. I am not concerned about the domestic market. Everything depends on world prices. Rather, the industry will suffer, which will affect the state,” summarized Yani Yanev.

It should be noted that the shortage of sunseed leads to an increase in the price of sunflower oil in Bulgaria, which in the last 1.5 years has fallen by 2.5 times – from almost 5 leva per liter to less than 2 leva per liter of oil.

Tags: Bulgaria, sunseed