Bulgaria, too, bans Ukrainian agricultural products
Bulgaria on Wednesday decided to temporarily ban agricultural imports from Ukraine, following some other European Union countries that blamed Ukrainian produce for rising local prices.
Speaking following a government meeting, Bulgarian prime minister Galab Donev said that ‘significant volumes’ of Ukrainian produce had stayed in the country over the past year, contrary to the idea of ‘solidarity lanes’, meant to facilitate Ukrainian imports.
"If this trend continues and even intensifies, which is quite possible after the introduction of similar bans by other countries, there could be extremely serious consequences for Bulgarian business," Mr Donev stressed, saying that the Bulgarian government "cannot allow this to happen."
"We are forced to take such a national measure while the responsible European bodies are considering an adequate response to the changed circumstances that the solidarity corridors have led to."
While Bulgaria’s prime minister did not specify how long the temporary ban would last, he called on the EU to "hear and understand" the position of the countries that had adopted similar measures.
Bulgaria remains in solidarity with Ukraine, Mr Donev assured, "but the bankruptcy of local farmers will not help it."
Last week, Poland officially banned the import of Ukrainian grain until June 30, with Hungary and Slovakia following suit. In addition, Warsaw originally banned transit of Ukrainian agri commodities as well, which was resolved following two days of negotiating on Tuesday.
