SOFIA -- Bulgarian farmers, who have protested for days against food imports from Ukraine, said they are ending their demonstration after reaching an agreement with the government over agricultural imports from neighboring Ukraine.
The agreement, reached late on September 19, provides for a temporary ban on the import of sunflower seeds from Ukraine as well as the introduction of quotas on grain imports from Ukraine.
Though some said the deal does not solve all of the issues on the table, most of the farmers, who had gathered with their tractors outside Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital, said they approved of the draft text of an agreement that was later signed by representatives of the protesters and the government on September 20.
“We have no more work here today,” Iliya Prodanov, chairman of the National Association of Grain Producers, told the protesters.
After that, the farmers left their meeting point near Sofia.
The farmers started their protest on September 18 following a decision by the Bulgarian parliament to lift a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, which they said would trigger an influx as Kyiv looks for routes to export after a deal with Russia to allow cargo ships to safely use the Black Sea despite the Russia-launched war in Ukraine collapsed.
Earlier this year, a flood of grain drove down prices for local growers and sparked the call for a ban on a number of food products from Ukraine.
Last week, the farmersrefused to negotiate with the government, prompting Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov to say that “they had started behaving like terrorists.”
Negotiations between the farmers and the government found a “common approach” to meet most of the demands, paving the way for a deal, producers said.
As part of the agreement, the government said it would negotiate with the European Commission and the government in Kyiv for quotas on Ukrainian grain imports in an attempt to avoid an oversaturation of the Bulgarian market.
The farmers also will receive an additional 150 million leva ($82 million) in subsidies until October 6 due to the negative impact of the war in Ukraine. The government will also allocate additional 63 million leva ($35 million) for agricultural subsidies for 2023.
In May, Bulgaria was among five EU countries that imposed a ban on grain imports from Ukraine, citing the need to protect local agricultural sectors.
But a subsequent change in government has resulted in a shift in Bulgaria’s position. Denkov’s government, which took office in June, said the ban had deprived the budget of tax revenue and led to higher food prices.
Bulgaria’s parliament approved on September 14 a decision to lift the ban on Ukrainian grain imports in a move welcomed by Ukraine.
A day later, the European Commission decided not to renew the overall ban on Ukrainian food heading to the five member countries. Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have since unilaterally imposed their own blockades, while Ukraine said it would file a complaint at the World Trade Organization against them.