At least one company importing Turkish cement to Bulgaria is ready to take the row with Health Ministry's draconian proposal to ban all Turkish cement imports to courts.

"We are ready to file a complaint with the Supreme Administrative Court should the Health Ministry decide to order a ban on all cement imports from Turkey," weekly Stroitelstvo Gradut quoted Galin Vassilev, the head of the Bulgarian office of Turkish cement-maker NUH Cimentо, as saying.

"Not all Turkish cement should be put under the same denominator, it is a product that should be banned only if it does not comply with the country's safety and health regulations, but it should not be banned indiscriminately," Vassilev said.

The row between Bulgarian cement producers and importers of cheaper cement from Turkey has been brewing for months. The Bulgarian cement industry union BACI has claimed, citing lab results as proof, that cement imported from Turkey did not comply to European Union safety regulations because it contained inadmissible amounts of chrome.

Despite a temporary ban by the Health Ministry in April, imports have continued without impunity, Bulgarian cement producers have said. The industry union said it lodged a complaint with the European Commission against the Government for failing to act decisively in the matter.

Importers, however, have blamed the corporate interests of the Bulgarian cement lobby. Cement consumption in Bulgaria doubled in the five years after 2003, fuelled by the construction boom in the country. In the first quarter of the year, however, demand fell by 30 per cent compared the same period of 2008.

With building companies also hit by the economic slowdown and the end of the real estate boom, those that continued construction work on projects preferred Turkish cement over its higher quality and cheaper price, importers claim.