Bulgaria may impose import quota on Ukrainian sunflower seeds

MOSCOW. Sept 20 (Interfax) - Bulgaria is planning to ban the import of sunflower seeds from Ukraine in the near future amid widespread protests by farmers, Ukrainian media reported citing the Bulgarian portal BNR and quoting a statement by Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov after negotiations with a protest committee.

Ukrainian sunflower seeds imports would resume once a quota is agreed with Kiev, Denkov said.

"Regarding sunflower seeds: I will be discussing this soon with the Prime Minister of Ukraine. I will inform you about the results of the discussions and that there will be a specific quota for Bulgaria. This quota will be what is allowed for import into Bulgaria, but only after we set its volume. In the near term, we will not be allowing imports of Ukrainian sunflower seeds," Denkov said.

He also said that negotiations are currently ongoing between the European Commission and Ukraine, with the participation of the ministers of agriculture of the EU member states, on whether it is possible to include other agricultural products in the lists of those already prohibited.

Bulgarian farmers said they would stop protesting only if they approve of the commitments made by their government.

As reported, on September 18, Bulgaria's farmers began nationwide protests after the parliament's decision to unblock imports of agricultural products from Ukraine.

Bulgaria did not join the coalition of Eastern European countries (Poland, Hungary and Slovakia) in imposing a unilateral ban on the import of Ukrainian wheat, rapeseed, corn and sunflower after September 15, when the ban adopted in May by the European Commission expired. Romania also did not impose a unilateral ban, but subsequently announced that it would suspend imports for 30 days, saying it was a period for testing the control system of Ukraine's proposed import containment system.