On the photo: A farmer watches as a combined harvester pours grain on a truck in a field near Kyiv (Kiev), Ukraine, 04 August 2023. Russia has recently pulled out of a UN-Turkey brokered agreement guaranteeing safe passage to Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea. EPA/SERGEY DOLZHENKO
The five EU member states - Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia - will hold a meeting where they will insist on new European support for farmers next year due to the negative impact of the war in Ukraine.
This was announced by the Minister of Agriculture Kiril Vatev in Brussels.
"We don't have a problem with the import of Ukrainian grain, we have a problem with sunflowers. At the moment, imports are exempted and there is no ban. But now Ukraine does not export sunflowers," Vatev said.
He recalled that "as a result of our efforts, the European Commission raised the ceiling of Ukrainian aid from 250,000 to 280,000 euros and extended the deadline until June 30.
"The EC categorically refuses to remove the ceilings, because even if it does remove them, it does not mean infinity. This means that a farm will receive funds both per hectare and per head. European policy is like this, and it makes economic sense, so the biggest farms benefit from scale and don't need to be subsidized ad infinitum. Even Bulgaria is the only country that insists on increasing state aid," Kiril Vatev added. / BGNES
