Bulgaria’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Georgi Takhov asked the European Commission to take safeguard measures against honey imports from Ukraine at a meeting of the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council, and his request was supported by a representative of Romania, the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture reported.
According to Takhov, imports of Ukrainian honey make it difficult to sell local products. The fact is that significant volumes of Ukrainian honey entering the European market at very low prices put a lot of pressure on Bulgarian honey prices.
“In addition to the many challenges facing the industry, over the past three years it has also faced competition from imports from Ukraine. The volume of honey imported from Ukraine to our country from January to October 2024 increased by more than 30% compared to the same period last year,” Takhov emphasized and added that the high level of imports from Ukraine puts Bulgarian producers in a difficult situation.
At a press conference following the meeting of EU agriculture ministers, Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy explained that Bulgaria and Romania demanded safeguard measures for imports of honey from Ukraine to the European Union, as the duty-free quota set in the autonomous trade liberalization has been exhausted, and “the duty creates problems in domestic markets burdened by imports.”
“The measure – the so-called ATM regulation – has been exhausted, but the amount of honey coming from Ukraine is still subject to duty, which also creates problems in domestic markets that are burdened by imports,” the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture quoted him as saying.
Nagy emphasized that effective measures should be taken to prevent counterfeit honey from entering the EU market, for example, by labeling and separating natural and non-natural honey. He also believes that it is necessary to compensate for the “emerging competitive disadvantages” and to further support the beekeeping sector.
As reported, on August 20, the European Commission imposed tariff quotas on Ukrainian honey due to the excess of quota-free volumes of its supplies to the European market. Imports of honey from Ukraine from the beginning of 2024 to August exceeded the quota of 44.418 thousand tons. Additional imports are subject to most favored nation (MFN) duties. In particular, a new tariff quota will be introduced from January 1, 2025, until June 5, 2025, which corresponds to 5/12 of the threshold set for the emergency braking. For honey, the new quota will amount to 18,507 tons.
From June 2, 2024 to June 5, 2025, the European Commission introduced quotas for the supply of eggs and sugar to the European Union. For eggs, the new quota is set at 9,662 thousand tons, and for sugar – at 109,44 thousand tons.
On May 13, 2024, the Council of the European Union approved the extension of temporary trade liberalization measures for Ukraine for another year, until June 5, 2025. At the same time, it was envisaged to apply an emergency braking mechanism for particularly sensitive agricultural products, including sugar, eggs, poultry, oats, corn, honey, and cereals, in case imports of these products in 2024 exceed the average volumes recorded in the second half of 2021 and during 2022 and 2023. Similar emergency braking measures may be applied in 2025 if, in the period from January 1 to June 5, 2025, the volume of Ukrainian exports exceeds 5/12 of the quota set for 2024.
According to Art. 4(7) of the Regulation on autonomous trade measures applicable to Ukrainian products, Ukraine will be able to supply to the EU from June 6, 2024 to June 5, 2025 without paying any duty 57,101 thousand tons of poultry meat, 9,662 thousand tons of eggs, 109,439 thousand tons of sugar, 18,507 thousand tons of honey, 4.648 million tons of corn, 1,017 thousand tons of oats, 8,603 thousand tons of cereals.
An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 occurred in Romania at 17:40 Kyiv time, with tremors also felt in the city of Odesa. According to the website of the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center, the epicenter was located in the Vrancha Zone in the Carpathians at a depth of 137 km.
Odesa Mayor Hennadiy Trukhanov reported no casualties or damage in the city.
“An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.3 occurred in Romania. It was felt in Bulgaria, Moldova and Ukraine, including Odesa. There was no information about damage or injuries in the city,” Trukhanov wrote on Telegram.
In local social media, users reported that the tremors were also felt in Mykolaiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Bila Tserkva in Kyiv Oblast.
Bulgaria is interested in importing sunflower seeds, wheat, corn and milk powder from Ukraine, said Nikolay Nenchev, Chargé d’Affaires of the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria in Ukraine, during a meeting with Taras Vysotsky, acting Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine.
According to the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food, Nikolay Nenchev assured that Bulgaria is ready to continue to help and cooperate with Ukraine, to facilitate the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products to the country’s seaports.
Vysotsky, for his part, noted that Ukraine highly appreciates cooperation with Bulgaria and its assistance in exporting agricultural products.
“Ukraine and Bulgaria have always had a constructive dialog on various issues. This contributes to the strengthening of bilateral relations between Ukraine and Bulgaria,” the acting minister summarized.
Bulgaria may provide Ukraine with €80 million at the NATO summit, but “this or any other” amount will be known after a vote in parliament, said Acting Prime Minister Dimitri Glavchev, Radio Bulgaria reported on Friday.
“Our main goal is to defend our national interests as a NATO ally,” Glavchev said of Bulgaria’s position at the summit. At the same time, Glavchev did not specify what exactly this amount would be allocated for.
The report also says that earlier today, the leader of the GERB (Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria) party, Boyko Borisov, said that Bulgaria would not give Ukraine money in cash. The co-chairman of the DPS party (Movement for Rights and Freedoms), Delian Peevski, explained that there is no contradiction in Glavchev’s and Borisov’s statements.
“This money will not be transferred by our country directly to Ukraine, but will be deducted from the amounts Bulgaria receives for the weapons provided to Kyiv,” Peevski said.
Speaking to the media, Glavchev also welcomed the proposals made in the plenary session hall of the parliament that Bulgaria act as a mediator in peace talks or peace initiatives between Russia and Ukraine.
“The only thing that should be emphasized is that these peace talks must comply with international law,” Glavchev said.
As reported earlier, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev refused to participate in the NATO summit to be held in Washington on July 9-11, as he does not agree with the country’s commitments to support Ukraine.
Turkey, Romania, and Bulgaria on Monday launched a joint mine-sweeping operation in the Black Sea to improve shipping safety, especially during the export of Ukrainian grain, Bloomberg reports.
The publication noted that the Istanbul-led initiative is the first major joint action by the Black Sea countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and focuses on clearing mines drifting in certain areas of the Black Sea as a result of the war.
“Russia and Ukraine are key grain producers, and the war has jeopardized the safe passage of goods. Kyiv launched its own Black Sea export route last year after the failure of a secure corridor agreement backed by Russia, Turkey and the United Nations. It has successfully boosted exports and helped the economy grow faster than forecast, but the route remains risky,” Bloomberg writes.
Among the major maritime losses, the publication named a Russian missile attack near the key Ukrainian port of Odesa on a merchant ship, killing the captain and other crew members, as well as a ship hired by Cargill Inc. that was damaged in November by an explosion while leaving a Ukrainian port in the Black Sea.
Ukraine said in March that exports from its Black Sea ports had almost returned to pre-war levels after repeated attacks and disruptions following Russia’s full-scale invasion. However, ports around Odesa frequently face strikes from Russia that continue to interrupt operations, Bloomberg recalled.
Starting March 31, Bulgaria and Romania will become members of the Schengen area: Schengen rules will be applied in both member states, including the issuance of Schengen visas, and control at internal air and sea borders will be abolished.
This was reported by the press service of the European Commission on Saturday.
“The Commission strongly welcomes this achievement, which follows the historic Council decision of December 2023. The accession of these two Member States to the Schengen area will make the common area more attractive by significantly expanding the world’s largest common area without internal border controls,” the press release says.
Commenting on the event, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: “Tomorrow marks an important day: Bulgaria and Romania join the Schengen family. I welcome the abolition of internal air and sea border checks. This is a great success for both countries. And a historic moment for the Schengen area – the largest free movement area in the world. Together we are building a stronger and more united Europe for all our citizens.”
