EC proposes further €100 million to help farmers in five countries affected by Ukranian grain imports, including Bulgaria

The European Commission proposed to provide an additional €100 million to help farmers in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, which have been most affected by increased imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine, an EC spokesperson said in response to BNT on April 19.

EC President, Ursula von der Leyen, this morning sent a letter to the authorities in Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia saying she is aware of the situation and the countries' concerns.

There is a meeting this afternoon between the EC Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis and the agriculture ministers of the five countries, including Bulgaria, to discuss possible solutions to the problem..

The EC also commented that they disagreed with the Bulgarian authorities' position that the institution had delayed its assistance to farmers.

"Regarding the aid to farmers - I would like to disagree with the position that the European Commission has been slow in its reaction. We acted very quickly to provide the first package of financial assistance to farmers in three Member States which are at risk. Even then, at the end of March, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced after the summit that we were offering a second aid package. The second package will be even bigger than the first - it will be €100 million to support farmers in the five countries most affected by increased grain imports from Ukraine," said Dana Spinant, spokesperson for the Commission.