Former Agriculture Minister urges creation of intervention agency to unblock Bulgarian grain purchase.

In parallel with the increase in imports and support from the EU, the purchase of Bulgarian grain must also be unblocked. This can be done through the creation of an intervention agency. Thus, in such upheavals, the state should buy grain from the market at a low price, not with Bulgarian, but with European money, in order to raise the price, and wheat should be released when there is a shortage and the money should be returned to Brussels. This is what the former Minister of Agriculture, Mehmed Dikme, said about “On focus”.

According to him, the cost of wheat was about BGN 250 per hectare. “In Ukraine, the cost is BGN 150. From just 1 decare, the difference is BGN 100 per decare. The cost price in our country is higher. Ukraine uses fertilizers and fuels at lower prices, as well as prohibited plant protection products. Then it should allowed to Bulgarian producers as well. The EU does not put Ukrainian and Bulgarian producers in a competitive environment. Speculation is that the buttermakers will go bankrupt. The import ban does not prohibit the processing of Ukrainian sunflower. The customs regime allows to work on ishleme and export it to third parties countries. However, their desire is to crash the market and buy at the lowest possible prices. The game with the Ukrainians will be over, and if we destroy the local producers, who will produce sunflower? The Ukrainian grain business is not competitive,” he pointed out.

According to him, the European officials were confused when making specific decisions about the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain. “Yes, Ukraine is at war and it should be helped, but at the same time our economy and country are kinder to us. We should think that Bulgaria should also survive, because the war is seriously affecting life in Bulgaria. More 7-8 months ago an import ban should have been introduced, but this will not solve the case. The EU works with double standards – it tries to provide the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria with raw material at a low price, without caring that it will affect on the Bulgarian market. No wheat transits through Bulgaria. We have wheat available for two years and sunflower for three years ahead. Bulgaria does not have the capacity to export it. We have stocks of about 5 million tons, and the capacity of the ports for 10 months from old harvest is full,” commented Dikme. And he noted that the state’s finances are in a miserable state.

According to him, after the war began, there was a whole year without a grain corridor and there were two years’ supply. “At one point, twice as much Ukrainian grain as was consumed came to the market. First there was a deficit, after there was no export, two harvests crashed the market and drove the price down. Bulgarian producers suffered heavy losses due to low prices. Every trader is looking for the lowest possible price, but we have to protect Bulgarian. There is a huge import of wheat and sunflower. A large part of the oil on the shelves is Ukrainian – either it is from sunflower from Ukraine, or (un)refined, bottled here,” stressed the former agricultural Minister. And he added that the president should hand over power to the politicians, because so far he has shown that he does not want to have a government for him to govern.