Prolonged heat and low rainfall have caused water levels on the Danube River in Bulgaria to drop sharply since early summer, leaving most sections unnavigable by late August and forcing many farmers to struggle to get their grain to market.
Zarko Ivanov, a grain producer from northwestern Bulgaria, said his wheat harvest was good this year, but he was unable to ship it because vessels could not navigate the Danube River.
"The Danube River is normally our main route for transporting grain. This year, because ships cannot travel on the river, we have to use trucks. But trucking is too expensive. So even though we had a good harvest, we lost money," said Ivanov.
"This year's weather has been too dry. Both our spring and autumn harvests were good, but we couldn't transport them. We don't know whether the weather will get better after summer," said Ivan Parvanov, another grain producer from northwestern Bulgaria.
Grain exports are an important part of Bulgaria's foreign trade. The country's wheat, corn and sunflower seeds are sold in large quantities to Greece, Germany and Nordic countries.
In 2025, Bulgaria's agricultural exports exceeded 7 billion euros (about 8.2 billion U.S. dollars). Most of Bulgaria's grain-producing areas are in the north and west, while its main export ports are on the Black Sea coast in the south. In previous years, most grain from production areas to ports was transported via the Danube, but this year the vital artery has been blocked by drought.
With the sunflower seed harvest approaching in autumn, Ivanov is becoming even more anxious.
"In all my years of farming, this is the first time I have had a good harvest but could not move it. Now I am losing money by using trucks just to empty the warehouse, because the sunflower seeds will be harvested soon," said Ivanov.
Drought halts Danube River shipping, stranding Bulgarian grain
Chinese and Swiss observers expect the upgraded Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two countries to benefit a wider range of industries as the two sides jointly announced the completion of the last round of negotiations in Bern on Aug 20.
Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Guy Parmelin, president of the Swiss Confederation and head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, jointly announced the completion of the negotiations and signed a memorandum of understanding in the Swiss capital on Aug 20.
Wang said China and Switzerland launched negotiations on upgrading the FTA in September 2024, and successfully concluded the negotiations after five rounds of consultations through joint efforts.
The two sides have committed to a higher level of two-way opening up in multiple areas, including goods, services, investment and rules, which will create new opportunities for bilateral economic and trade cooperation, Wang noted.
Parmelin said the successful upgrade of the agreement marks another important milestone in the development of bilateral relations and will provide a more stable, transparent and predictable institutional framework for the long-term development of businesses in both countries.
Observers said they are expecting the upgraded FTA to benefit a wider range of Swiss and Chinese industries with some sectors likely to see particularly great boost.
"This change in our agreement entails a great progress and improvement for many of our companies in different sectors. Now, our overall trade is very important, but what strikes me is that in certain sectors it is of high importance to both countries," said Jean-Jacques de Dardel, former Swiss ambassador to China.
A spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday that in terms of trade in goods, the share of imports subject to zero tariff treatment will exceed 99 percent for both countries under the upgraded FTA.
"[For] some sectors, the change is quite big. For instance, the watch products. In the existing FTA, only 1 percent of watch products enjoy the duty-free [treatment]. However, with the new FTA or the optimized FTA, it will go to 100 percent. I mean, all watch products would enjoy the duty-free [treatment]," said Meng Ling, partner in China Integrated Co, Ltd.
Observers on upgraded China-Switzerland FTA
