Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber: Not only farmers protest, but all sectors in agriculture

In order for the public to form an opinion, it must be properly informed. Everywhere there is talk about a protest of grain growers and that the reason is the import of grain from Ukraine, but this is not the case at all, Svetlana Boyanova, executive director of the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber, told BNT on September 19.

"We are talking about problems of absolutely all sectors - fruit and vegetables, honey and bee products, livestock breeders, wine growers. The manipulation is quite serious."

She said communication is also very difficult, as are the protests and the movement of people and machinery, because all forces are harnessed not to show things as they really are, while at the same time saying how concerned we are about the Bulgarian consumer.

Boyanova explained that before the protests, a complex meeting was requested, not only with the Minister of Agriculture, but also with the Minister of Finance and the Prime Minister, because agriculture is a very complex sector, it is not just about the produce and ensuring food security, but it is a sector of social importance that affects the regions.

"This meeting has been requested by the Bulgarian Agrarian Chamber, which includes all the organisations of the protest's initiative committee and has been joined by the rest of their colleagues," Boyanova said.

"After the decision in the Parliament we were urgently called for a talk on Saturday, but we said ‘come to the protest because you make the decisions without asking us’”.

"This is not just a Bulgarian issue, not a national issue, it is a European issue," said Vasil Grudev, former caretaker minister of agriculture and food, who also joined the conversation.

Grudev believes that the solution should also be sought at European level.

"Today there is a conference of the European People's Party, which is in connection with the design of the common agricultural policy in the next 10 years. At this meeting we will acquaint everyone with the difficult situation in which Bulgarian farmers find themselves. It is even worse because the European solutions are not working at the moment.

According to him, there is a basic common association agreement between the EU and Ukraine from 2014, in force since 2017, and its goal is to harmonise all customs tariffs, but Ukrainian products should start to meet those standards, which our products meet.

Bulgarian farmers protested at 45 locations across the country over lifted ban on Ukrainian grain imports

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