Due to Imports from Ukraine: 50% of Bulgarian Honey remains Unrealized

30% of beekeepers in Bulgaria are at a crossroads whether to stop working. The industry is collapsing, citing the unrealized output from last year as the main reason. Bulgarian producers have not been able to sell 50% of the produced honey, due to competing imports from Ukraine. Because of this, Bulgarian beekeepers have lost important markets abroad. The dangers of the crisis in the industry can affect Bulgaria even more seriously.

According to the chairman of the beekeeping company "Lipa" Rostislav Rashev, Bulgaria is a good producer of honey - about 10-12,000 tons, of which 2-3,000 on the domestic market. "We traditionally export to Germany, this year we lost positions because duty-free imports were allowed of honey from Ukraine. Half of our quantities remain unrealized, yields in Ukraine are much larger, they are the largest producer of honey - 40-60,000 tons, and their prices are lower," he explained. He added that beekeepers are assisted for the consequences of the war, but it is about BGN 10 per tranche for a bee family.

According to him, many beekeepers have difficulties and have started the first sales of bee colonies. "Natural pollinators are almost non-existent here because of pesticides. The biggest share of pollination comes from our bees. If we lose farms, we will lose the ability to pollinate crops, which will lead to problems with vegetables, fruits, sunflowers, canola. There is a large number of dead bee families, among the causes are parasitic disease, the climate, changes in their gene pool," said Rashev.