- Poland and Ukraine negotiate transit ban
- Poland, Hungary ban imports, Slovakia follows
- The EU executive has warned against unilateral moves
- EU discusses grain ban in Ukraine this week
KIEV, April 17 (Portal) – Kiev intends to reopen food and grain transit via Poland as ‘a first step’ towards ending import bans at talks in Warsaw on Monday as countries halted grain from Ukraine, to protect their local agricultural markets from an influx of supply.
Poland and Hungary announced bans on some imports from Ukraine on Saturday. Slovakia said Monday it would do the same, and other countries in central and eastern Europe said they were also considering action.
Some Black Sea ports have been blocked after Russia began invading Ukraine in February last year, and large quantities of Ukrainian grain – which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union – ended up in central European countries due to logistical bottlenecks.
Local farmers say this has lowered prices and reduced their sales, and governments have urged the European Union to act.
“The first step, in our opinion, should be the opening of transit, because it is quite important and should definitely be done, and after that we will talk about other things,” said Ukraine’s Minister of Agriculture Mykola Solsky.
About 10% of Ukraine’s food exports cross the Polish border, Solsky said in comments published by the Ministry of Agriculture on the Telegram messaging app. Deliveries to Hungary accounted for around 6% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports, he said.
Ukraine is holding additional talks this week in Romania on Wednesday and Slovakia on Thursday, Solsky added.
The Poland embargo that has been in effect since Saturday evening also applied to transit through the country to prevent grain shipments from entering the Polish market.
“The ultimate goal is not for the import ban to remain in place indefinitely, but to ensure that grain from Ukraine intended for export gets to where it’s going,” Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski told radio station RMF .
Talks between Ukraine and Poland should start around 12:00 (1000 GMT) on Monday in Warsaw, Poland’s Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told TVP Info.
JOINT EU ACTION ‘INEVITABLE’
Meanwhile, obstacles to Ukrainian imports appeared to be growing.
Slovakia plans to temporarily halt imports of grain and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesman said on Monday.
Hungary’s Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said a solution beyond the national level was needed. “Joint European action and EU action is inevitable,” he said.
The prime ministers of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia addressed the issue in a letter to the European Commission last month. They said tariffs on Ukrainian imports should be considered, and states have also pushed for a purchase mechanism to buy up cheap grain.
A senior EU official said EU envoys should discuss Poland and Hungary’s bans this week – after the bloc’s executive said on Sunday unilateral action was unacceptable.
The official said there was a problem as low global prices and demand meant grain was kept in the bloc rather than being resold.
Ukraine normally exports its agricultural goods, particularly grain, through its Black Sea ports, which were opened up last July under an agreement between Ukraine, Turkey, Russia and the United Nations.
That deal is due to expire on May 18, and Moscow said last week it could not be extended unless the West removes obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports.
Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; writing by Tom Balmforth; Edited by Timothy Heritage
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