Bulgaria to lift ban on Ukrainian imports

The national ban Bulgaria imposed on certain goods coming from Ukraine will be lifted once the EU’s market stabilisation measures agreed to at the end of April come into force, the cabinet’s press service announced Wednesday.

Faced with Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia banning Ukrainian products to protect local markets from a flow of Ukrainian farm products, the European Commission proposed a series of market stabilisation measures at the EU Agriculture Council on 25 April.

The government added that Bulgaria will lift its ban from the date the EU measures come into force.

Some of the EU measures include a second financial package to support farmers from the most affected countries with  €100 million and the activation of extraordinary protective measures under the currently effective Regulation on autonomous trade measures for four products (wheat, rapeseed, sunflower seed and maise), the import of which is temporarily prohibited from Ukraine.

The Commission will also regularly monitor other goods and, in case the market is perturbed, introduce protective mechanisms. It will also implement measures to improve logistics and transit of goods from Ukraine.

On Tuesday, the Commission also announced that it had adopted exceptional and temporary preventive measures on imports of a limited number of products from Ukraine under the exceptional safeguard of the Autonomous Trade Measures Regulation.

The measures concern only wheat, maise, rapeseed and sunflower seed originating in Ukraine and aim to alleviate logistical bottlenecks concerning these products in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The measures entered into force on 2 May and will last until 5 June 2023.

On 19 April, the Bulgarian government banned for two months the import of over 20 goods from Ukraine, including wheat; wheat flour; sunflower; sunflower oil; corn; honey and bee products; raw and dry milk; walnuts; hazelnuts; eggs; chicken meat; pork; sheep and goat meat; rye; barley; wine; ethyl alcohol.

Concerned that its market would be oversaturated with crops, Bulgaria practically followed the example of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, commented then-caretaker agriculture minister Yavor Gechev.

Bulgaria received €16 million in compensation from the EU because it allows the export of Ukrainian grain and food products to pass through its territory.

The country has asked for another €50 million, even though Bulgarian grain producers receive hundreds of millions of euros in direct European subsidies.

Tags: Ukraine, Bulgaria, restrictions