Bulgaria bans imports of agricultural products from Ukraine, but allows their transit

MOSCOW. April 19 (Interfax) - Bulgaria has introduced a ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine with an exception for goods in transit, according to Ukrainian media, citing Bulgaria's acting Prime Minister Galab Donev.

"The main reason is that last year, contrary to the idea of the so-called "solidarity corridors," significant amounts of food remained in the country and the main production and trade chains were disrupted. If this trend continues and even intensifies, which is quite realistic after the introduction of similar bans in other countries, this could have very serious consequences for Bulgarian business," the website bnr.bg (Radio Bulgaria) quoted Donev as saying during a speech at a government meeting on Wednesday.

The government is forced to take this measure, because "the responsible European authorities are still considering an adequate response to the changed circumstances that the "solidarity corridors" have led to, the acting PM said.

Donev expressed hope that Brussels would hear the positions of the EU member states - Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia - and rethink its own position. "Bulgaria is still in solidarity with Ukraine, but the bankruptcy of Bulgarian agricultural producers will not help the cause," he said.

"At the moment, there is no information on how long the temporary ban on food imports from Ukraine will be in place, but the government will make a decision in this regard at its meeting today," the statement said.

Poland on April 15, after a congress of farmers, adopted a unilateral decision to temporarily stop the import of any agricultural products from Ukraine until June 30, 2023, despite the fact that on July 7 a bilateral agreement was reached with Ukraine on the temporary suspension of exports of only four crops - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower. Transit was still allowed, but with tougher conditions that the parties planned to quickly agree upon.

Similar decisions were then made by Hungary and Slovakia.

Poland later decided that on the night of April 21 it would resume the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products, but would apply a number of mechanisms controlling the movement of these goods across the country.