We don’t want money, we want to work normally, said grain producer Radoslav Hristov
The president Rumen Radev commented today protest to the farmers at the Vidin, Ruse, Silistra and Kardam border crossings, saying that he had alerted the Council of the EU, the President of the European Commission and the European Union, together with the leaders of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania, about the situation in the country.
The head of state of Bulgaria insists on urgent regulation of agricultural imports from Ukraine and receiving adequate support for our agricultural producers.
Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev arrived at the protest in Vidin. In front of the border post, he got on a tractor to show empathy with the farmers’ problems. Gechev told the media that there are large quantities of unsold grain in farmers’ warehouses, and the time for harvesting is approaching. “We have partial payments from the EC, but no subsidy can replace the farmer’s income,” the minister said.
The farmers participating in the protest, who blocked the border checkpoints for an hour or two, said that the protest will continue tomorrow and will be longer than today.
From Ruse Radoslav Hristov, a farmer from Stara Zagora, reported that about 40% of last year’s grain production is in the producers’ warehouses. “The question is where we will put the new crop in less than 3 months (God willing it will be better than last year, he added). I’m not saying it can’t be sold, but at these prices, Bulgarian grain producers have to sell at a loss.”
Hristov called on the president, the prime minister and the minister of agriculture to raise the issue before the European institutions.
He pointed out that the problem is not only for grain producers. Today, we are supported by other sectors, which also suffer from imports from Ukraine, he said. And he categorically stated that today’s protest is not about money. “We want this regulation (which allowed duty-free exports from Ukraine – b.r.) not to be extended, so that we can normally work, produce, feed our families, pay the wages of the workers and the rents of our landlords, who are about 1 million.”