Bulgarian farmers block roads to protest duty-free grain imports from Ukraine

Grain growers across Bulgaria on Wednesday staged a national protest and blocked for a short time the traffic to the border crossings with Romania through which Ukrainian grain is imported. They are demanding a veto on what they say are uncontrolled imports of agricultural produce from Ukraine, which are undercutting the prices of local production and leading them to inevitable bankruptcy.

The protest in Vidin brought together farmers from all over north-western Bulgaria and Romania. Their tractors blocked the international road to Danube Bridge 2. The grain growers also closed the traffic to the border crossings in Rousse and Kardam for nearly two hours. Sheep farmers and fruit growers from all over the country joined them.

Grain growers blocked traffic at Danube Bridge border crossing at Rousse

"The state should assert to the EU that Bulgaria is a producer, that what comes in from Ukraine should pass as transit. We produce and our production stays and its price drops", said Tsanka Nacheva - chairwoman of the Association of Grain Producers in Lovech.

The producers' warehouses are full of grain from last year and its price is falling. A tonne of wheat now costs 400 BGN.

"We want there to be actual corridors through which the grain can go and we can sell our grain," said Zhechko Andreynski, chairman of the Vidin Union of Grain Producers.

EC will compensate Bulgarian grain producers with further 16 million euro

Farmers also do not accept the financial compensation of 16 million euros offered by the EU.

"This 30 million BGN per 40 million Bulgarian decares makes less than 1 BGN of support. This is a disgrace! This is what I want to say to these 'suits' in Brussels and they better take this aid back and not make fun of us and Bulgarian agriculture", commented Radoslav Hristov, Chairman of the Thracian Union of Grain Producers.

Protesting grain growers blocked the road to Romania near the village of Kardam

Speaking to protesters in Vidin, caretaker Agriculture Minister, Yavor Gechev, said that no subsidy could replace the income of producers and promised additional measures.

"We cannot solve this problem in Bulgaria, i.e. we cannot not implement regulations. We want these corridors to exist as corridors and not to be at the expense of agricultural producers in Bulgaria," the minister explained.

The protests continue until the end of the week. If their demands are not heard, grain farmers are preparing new roadblocks on 7 April.