It is in the UK's interest to keep seasonal agricultural workers from EU member states and to bar them from the market even after leaving the union, Agricultural Minister Desislava Taneva has said.

In an interview with the Bulgarian National Television, she has said the move would be positive not only for the workers but also for the British economy.

"Not to mention that the crisis caused by efforts to hire workers in the agricultural sector is big, including in Bulgaria," she has noted. Workers from Eastern Europe employed by the UK's agricultural industry are thought to be in their thousands on a yearly basis, part of them coming from Bulgaria.

Taneva has cited her ministry's estimates that a third of Bulgarian exports to Britain (EUR 44 M as of 2015) are made up by grains, poultry and dairy products.

She has also commented on other issued possibly affecting the sectos, such as the sanctions imposed on Russia and the subsequent food imports embargo it adopted in response.

Bulgaria's food processing industry and agriculture have incurred losses to the tune of EUR 400 M since the restrictions were introduced with regard to western countries, Taneva has added. Dairy products account for the vast amount of this sum, or EUR 220 M.

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