Brussels could refrain from introducing excise duties for Bulgaria’s home-made alcoholic drink rakia, leader of Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) Petar Stoyanov said.

A member of the European Parliament (MEP) submitted a report asking for the removal of the minimal duties for home-made alcoholic drinks, Novinar daily reported.

Stoyanov said that this report can aid Bulgaria in finding a solution to the problem. Rakia producers already protested that the introduction of the mandatory excise duties made the production process too expensive.

UDF will support the proposal and will ask all Bulgarian representatives in European Parliament to do the same, Stoyanov said.

MEP Martin Dimitrov said that a number of East European countries faced problems with the excise duties, which gave them the right to bring up the issue.