site.btaEconomy Minister: Bulgaria Has Enough Sunflower Seed to Make Oil for Four Years

Currently there are 1.5 million tonnes of sunflower seed in Bulgaria, which is enough to make sunflower oil for four years, Deputy Prime Minister and Economy and Industry Minister Korneliya Ninova told reporters after Cabinet's weekly meeting here on Wednesday.

Commenting on the high prices of sunflower oil, Ninova said that a price of 5 leva per litre at the store is profiteering. The production cost per 1 litre of oil is 2 leva and jacking up the price to 5 leva per litre is not justified, she said. Ninova described as unfounded the allegations that the stopping of sunflower seeds exports from Ukraine and Russia is one of the causes behind the price increases. There is no shortage of supplies, she said, explaining that in recent days, sunflower seed owners and oil producers have been holding on to their products at storage facilities and factories, expecting the prices to increase further or to export them at higher prices later on. According to Ninova, the reason for this is the current global shortage of sunflower seeds and the price rise on the international markets.

"Our role is to put an end to price gouging. We will not allow a few to become millionaires over the course of a few days at the expense of the Bulgarian people," Ninova vowed, adding that mechanisms are in place for this purpose.

The Deputy Prime Minister also said that she will be alerting the Commission for the Protection of Competition about the existence of a cartel and abuse of dominance. The Commission has been conducting checks in recent days, she said, adding that the Commodity Exchanges and Wholesale Markets State Commission will be inspecting all wholesale markets, commodity exchanges and warehouses "to establish what is being stashed away". 

Finance Minister Assen Vassilev also commented after Cabinet's meeting by saying that there are around 3 million tonnes of wheat in Bulgaria, of which at least 300,000 tonnes are part of the reserves. The Council of Ministers Wednesday decided to purchase an additional 1.1 million tonnes of wheat, he said. The available warehouses can store up to 14 million tonnes of wheat, the Finance Minister said. Vassilev also explained that 1.1 billion leva have been allocated for the purchase of bread wheat and feed wheat, sunflower seeds and maize.

Answering a question, he said there is no wheat export ban, but the authorities are currently checking to ensure that what is being exported is properly documented and has all the necessary permits.