Suchergebnisse

Romania and Bulgaria are two neighboring countries located in one of the most deficient regions in terms of own raw material for sugar production in Europe. The region is defined as deficient due to unfavourable climatic conditions for sugar beet cultivation compared to the largest sugar producers in Europe: Germany, France, the Netherlands and Poland, where 70% of all sugar production in the EU is concentrated. At the peak of the sugar sectors in the two countries, there used to be 40 sugar factories with more than 9,500 employees. After their accession to EU and the end of the so-called sugar sector reform, only five factories managed to survive. The EU sugar sector reform itself was not carried out on a parity basis for all operators, but it gave more rights to beet processors at the expense of restrictions imposed on cane refineries and imports of raw cane sugar for refining. One of the outcomes of the reform is the differentiation of three regional markets, with a price gap of €61 between the first and the third region. The Balkan sugar sector is highly endangered and threatened with destruction. There is an urgent need of preferential custom quota for import of raw cane sugar to be implemented. Deficit countries like Bulgaria and Romania need to secure the traditional sugar consumption with local production from an independent source. Such a measure will prevent the monopolization of the market and protect the interest of the local economy, industry, and consumers.

The impact of the war in Ukraine on agriculture and its consequences on staple foods are analyzed. The price and trade levels of the main agricultural products before and after the war conflict are studied. Their impact on the European agricultural sector and multiplier effect on the independent sugar sector is explored. A historical and comparative analysis is used to support this research. Three main reasons for instability in the sector because of the war have been identified: reduced production, increased consumption and limited imports. Based on the results of the research, a solution has been proposed to overcome the identified problems in the European Sugar Sector: introducing a preferential quota for the import of raw cane sugar which is intended for refining in countries that lack their own raw material for sugar processing (Region 3 in the EU, including Bulgaria).