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MOSCOW, April 18 The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has submitted to the People's Assembly (Parliament) a bill banning the import of Ukrainian agricultural products for six months, the Bulgarian National Radio (BNR) reports.
Bulgarian Minister of Agriculture Yavor Gechev said last week that Sofia, following Hungary and Poland, is considering imposing a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports. Against the backdrop of protests from local farmers, Poland and Hungary announced the suspension of imports of Ukrainian agricultural products that enter the European market without duties.
“Our duty is to protect the national interests of Bulgaria, agriculture and production in Bulgaria, as well as the health of citizens. We demand that this be one of the first decisions of the parliament,” said BSP leader Kornelia Ninova, who presented the bill to the People's Assembly.
It is noted that we are talking about a ban on the import of wheat, sunflower, powdered milk and bee products.
At the end of March, the prime ministers of a number of EU countries turned to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with a request to intervene in the crisis caused by the influx of grain from Ukraine. The letter from the Prime Ministers of Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia noted that «the problems are associated with a significant increase in the supply of Ukrainian products to the markets of EU member states, especially those bordering Ukraine or located next to it», in particular, «an unprecedented growth imports of cereals, oilseeds, eggs, poultry, sugar, apple juice, berries, apples, flour, honey and pasta».
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