Bulgaria's Minister of Agriculture: EC has the final say on lifting the ban on Ukrainian grain imports

The final decision to lift the ban on Ukrainian grain imports is up to the European Commission and the date is 15 September. It concerns 4 main product groups - wheat, corn, sunflower and rapeseed, Minister of Agriculture, Kiril Vatev, told BNT on September 13 after a meeting of the relevant committee in Parliament. He specified that the Commission would have the last word on the issue.

"Bulgaria is a parliamentary country and is governed by the executive. So, this collective body will decide because it looks at a much larger volume of information than the Agriculture Ministry itself, and the National Assembly will make the final decision. I am obliged to take into account the decision of this collective body as well as the decision of the supreme body - the National Assembly," Vatev explained.

According to him, the pricing is not formed on the basis of cereals only and it is not known what other goods Bulgaria will be "furnished with from imports".

"When these imports come in, we will see at what prices they come in and then we can talk about price growth or price decline. Besides, the chain by which prices are formed is much more complex and in the end retailers will have the last word," Kiril Vatev explained.

Regarding the protests being prepared by the grain growers, the minister said that meetings will be held with them and once their losses are analysed, efforts will be made to compensate them.

Farmers prepare protests if grain imports from Ukraine resume

Kiril Vatev hopes that no bankruptcies will be allowed. The government intends to compensate the financial losses in whatever amount they are.