Government and farmers sign memorandum

Farmers end their protest, PM apologised for calling them "terrorists"

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19:50, 20.09.2023

The memorandum between the government and farmers was signed at the Council of Ministers on September 20. One of the points in it is the continuation of the ban on imports of sunflower seeds from Ukraine until the exhaustion of the quantities of domestically produced production in 2022-2023.

"We have signed an agreement, it comes into effect from today. In some constructive negotiations that we held yesterday and today, there are no losers. Everybody wins," Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov announced.

The Prime Minister apologised to the agricultural sector workers for calling them "terrorists".

"I take this opportunity to apologise to all the people who work in the agricultural sector. Without meaning to I insulted them by using the word “terrorists” and it was not directed at them. It was directed at the people who refused to come to the invitation I made," Denkov said.

Applause followed from those present at the briefing.

"Everything we included in the memorandum, besides being in line with the demands of the producers, is 100% in line with the priorities and main tasks of our government. There is a speeding up and a better organisation of work," Denkov noted.

"Regarding the actions with Ukraine, everything we signed is in line with the agreement between Ukraine and the EU. There is a regime that regulates exports to member states and we are working in accordance with it," he added.

"I want to thank on behalf of the Initiative Committee. There is a result achieved. Not every thing can be fully achieved, but it is important to reach a consensus that satisfies everyone. I hope that all the measures that were taken today will achieve an effect in the long run," said Ilia Prodanov, the President of the National Association of Grain Producers and one of the organisers of the farmers' protests.

"The state, in the person of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food, is starting to prepare a complex of measures - a kind of policies that will be in the long term and I hope that the implementation of such will really lead to a slightly better future for our farmers," said Simeon Karakolev, chairman of the national sheep and goat farmers' organization

"We will continue to work together to create this environment to have more opportunities, to have more Bulgarian products, because we are all working for the most important people in our country - these are the consumers, the Bulgarian people," Minister of Agriculture Kiril Vatev said.

Earlier it became clear that the protest of the farmers is being suspended. In the afternoon the tractors and the protesting farmers started to leave the parking lot of Dolni Bogrov near Sofia.

BGN 63 million allocated to support farmers

The Council of Ministers decided at a regular meeting to allocate an additional 63 million BGN to the State Fund “Agriculture” for 2023 to support farmers. The funds are allocated to provide support to farmers under national measures and to compensate for increased prices of energy, feed, plant protection products, fuel and fertilisers.

Government and farmers sign memorandum

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