Ukraine is benefiting from the EU ban on imports of sunflower seeds to five neighboring countries, since domestic oil extraction plants are not provided with enough raw materials and are constantly experiencing a shortage of raw materials, Stepan Kapshuk, the director general of the Ukroliyaprom association, told Interfax-Ukraine.

"Before the war, there were 108 oil factories in Ukraine. In total, they could produce 24 million tonnes of oil, of which 10 million tonnes were sunflower. However, these enterprises never managed to operate at full capacity due to a lack of raw materials that Ukraine exported. In the best seasons, oil extraction plants managed to get 19 million tonnes of oil," the head of the industry association explained.

He said that earlier the potential of Ukrainian oil extraction plants made it possible to produce 40,000-50,000 tonnes of oil per day. Due to hostilities in Ukraine, about a dozen large operators stopped working, so the plants produce 35,000 tonnes of oil daily.

Kapshuk recalled that Ukroliyaprom does not interfere with the export of sunflower seeds, but proposes to introduce an additional collection mechanism, in particular, export quotas.

"Now is the best time for the government to make such a decision. Such a mechanism will bring the state budget about UAH 3 billion, which can be used to pay salaries to the military," he stressed and said that the association had sent relevant proposals to the prime minister.

Commenting on the agreement between the Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine and the Ministry of Agriculture of Bulgaria on signing a memorandum on sunflower oil, Kapshuk said that such a decision was caused by the increase in Bulgaria's own production of sunflower oil.

According to him, in recent years the number of oil extraction plants in Bulgaria has increased from four to 11. Last year, Bulgarian processors were able to purchase Ukrainian sunflower seeds at affordable prices and increased oil production to 250,000-300,000 tonnes, with internal demand of about 150,000 tonnes.

"They need to sell their own goods both on the domestic market and increase their exports," the head of the industry association explained.

According to Kapshuk, earlier Ukraine exported oil to 124 countries. In recent years, the geography of exports has been narrowing and Ukrainian oil is sold to approximately 80 countries. Its main buyers are India, China, Europe and African countries.