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SOFIA (Bulgaria), April 18 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria's government is ready to buy 750,000 tonnes of milling wheat and 325,000 tonnes of sunflower seed from local growers on the Sofia Commodity Exchange as part of plans to boost the country's food reserves in the context of the war in Ukraine, agriculture minister Ivan Ivanov said.

The finance ministry has provided 1.1 billion levs ($607.3 million/562.4 million euro) for the purchases, with the grain and sunflower seed to be bought under public procurement procedures, Ivanov told local broadcaster Nova TV over the weekend.

The purchasing prices had been set at up to 570 levs per tonne of milling wheat and up to 1,400 levs per tonne of sunflower seed, with starting prices on the local commodity exchange expected to be about 20% lower, deputy agriculture minister Ivan Hristanov said earlier this month.

In March, the Bulgarian government set aside funds to purchase grains from local producers with the aim of guaranteeing the country's food security, as the war in Ukraine -- one of the world's top grain producers, has led to concerns over supplies and rising commodity prices.

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