The leaders of Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia have supported the “Grain from Ukraine” initiative announced by the president of Ukraine and announced further efforts to increase existing and create new transit corridors for the export of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products.
“Since the beginning of the war, 8.4 million tons of grains and oilseeds from Ukraine have been transited (through Romania) to consumers in the world. We expect transit exports from Ukraine to increase in the coming months,” Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said in a video message at the international food security summit in Kiev on Saturday.
He noted that Romania has acted very strongly in support of Ukrainian grain exports through Romanian ports and will continue working to increase connectivity between the countries by land and rail, including the recent opening of a new border crossing.
Ciuche also stressed that Romania has and will not back down from supporting Ukraine and Moldova in the energy sphere. “We will not allow Russia to plunge the region into darkness,” he said.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev said at the summit that Bulgaria has managed to transport about 200,000 tons of grain from Ukraine across the Danube in recent months, and the country intends to continue this transportation project.
“Unfortunately, the loss of power in Ukrainian ports due to Russian shelling has made this process difficult for Bulgarian vessels,” he said.
Radev also said Bulgaria is providing fuel to Ukraine so the country can support the agricultural and transportation sectors.
Croatian Prime Minister Andrea Plenkovic also supported work on new corridors for the supply of Ukrainian products as part of the EU’s Solidarity Routes project.
“Croatia is actively joining, and will attract other ports on the Adriatic and there are opportunities for corridors along the Danube River,” said the Croatian government head.
The three leaders welcomed the extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative for another 120 days, and the Bulgarian president urged the search for stable long-term solutions.
Bulgaria is resettling Ukrainian refugees from resort hotels by the sea to buffer centers in the cities of Sarafovo and Elhovo for further placement in other places of temporary accommodation in the interior of the country, according to the Bulgaria for Ukraine portal.
“We are ending the integration plan for the resettlement of refugees in the interior of the country, with which we sought to meet the needs of the people. All persons who are in hotels and say that they have nowhere to go will be temporarily placed in buffer centers in Sarafovo and Elhovo,” the source was quoted as saying. in the message, Deputy Prime Minister for Effective Public Administration of Bulgaria Kalina Konstantinova.
According to the new plan of the National Headquarters, all Ukrainian refugees will be temporarily placed in buffer centers before being resettled in places of temporary accommodation.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the authorities are currently determining the exact number of Ukrainians who have lost their homes at home and intend to take advantage of temporary asylum in Bulgaria.
“I urge those of you who do not need asylum to declare it now. This is the only way we can immediately take care of people who really need it,” Konstantinova stressed.
At the same time, persons who have refused humanitarian resettlement still have the right to free residence in Bulgaria until February 24, 2023, social benefits, the right to work and treatment.
As reported, Bulgaria’s new humanitarian program provides for the resettlement of refugees in lower-class housing, family hotels and guest houses. According to the certificate in the system of the Ministry of Tourism of Bulgaria, the possibility of accommodation in places 1 and 2 stars is 175 thousand beds.
Source: https://ukraine.gov.bg/
The leading Ukrainian manufacturer of sprinkler equipment Variant Irrigation (Kharkiv) signed a contract with a large agricultural holding in Bulgaria for the supply of six sprinkler machines with a length of 350 to 600 meters, the company’s website reported on Thursday.
The project, the cost of which was not disclosed, in addition to the supply of irrigation equipment, provides for the creation of infrastructure – the laying of main pipelines for the customer.
“Despite the difficult situation in Ukraine caused by Russia’s military aggression, domestic producers continue to work, look for new markets, and reformat their processes. The management of Variant Irrigation decided to save production equipment as much as possible, retain personnel, stay in Ukraine, and gradually establish production processes in safe regions,” the report says.
As reported, from June, new relocated production of Variant Irrigation in the west of Ukraine will start operating in the regular mode.
Variant Irrigation is the Ukrainian irrigation market leader in terms of the number of supplied wide-sprinkler sprinklers.
Bulgaria will be pleased to participate in the restoration of Ukraine, Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov has said.
“As for your proposal to Bulgaria to participate in the reconstruction of Ukraine, we will be more than happy to do so. We have many cities with many Bulgarian-speaking Ukrainians, and Bulgaria will be pleased to take a constructive part,” Petkov said at a press conference with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday.
The head of government said Bulgaria can also help Ukraine with the help of the trans-Balkan gas pipeline.
“When we talk about energy security, Bulgaria can help Ukraine through the use of the trans-Balkan gas pipeline, through which we can supply gas from LNG terminals in Greece and Turkey to Ukraine, which will give both our countries a lower price and the possibility of deliveries,” he said.
In addition, Petkov said Bulgaria supports Ukraine’s accession to the EU.
“It is very important for Bulgaria that Ukraine sees a clear path to the EU. It is time for us to say that Ukraine belongs, is part of the European family, and we must give a clear sign and a clear path as soon as possible. You have a strong voice for Bulgaria when we meet with many European colleagues,” he said.
As part of EU sanctions, the Bulgarian authorities imposed a ban on entry into their ports for ships from Russia, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Sunday.
“All ships flying the Russian flag, as well as ships that changed the Russian flag or registration to any other state after February 24, are denied access to the sea and river ports of Bulgaria,” AP quotes excerpts from a statement by the Bulgarian Maritime Administration.
AP specifies that the Bulgarian authorities will make an exception for ships in distress or in need of humanitarian assistance, as well as ships carrying energy, food and medicine to the EU.
On the eve it became known about a similar order of the Italian authorities. At the same time, Russian cargo ships, which are currently in Italy, were ordered by the authorities to go to sea as soon as they complete their current operations.
Earlier in April, the EU introduced another package of sanctions against the Russian Federation, ordering, in particular, to close ports for ships from Russia. At the same time, exceptions are provided for the transportation of a number of goods, for example, energy carriers, agricultural products.
The United States welcomes the position of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev on the Ukrainian Crimea, the Department of State said.”We welcome the statement by President Radev, in which he reaffirmed Bulgaria’s support for Ukraine. The United States, the G7, the European Union and NATO were clear and united in our position that, despite Russia’s attempt to annex Crimea, this is Ukraine,” the Department of State said.Earlier, the European Truth publication said the press service of Bulgarian President Rumen Radev clarified the position of the head of state regarding the occupied Crimea due to his statement during the televised debates in the framework of the election campaign.
