Ukraine announced on Monday (18) that it had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against three European Union (EU) countries for maintaining an embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain lifted by the bloc.
The countries named in the lawsuit are Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
“It is important for us to define that member states cannot ban the import of Ukrainian goods in individual cases,” Ukrainian Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said in a statement announcing the complaint.
In May, the EU imposed an embargo on imports of Ukrainian grain in five member states of the bloc: Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. Goods could only pass through these places in transit.
The reason was to control grain overload in these countries, thereby protecting the market and local farmers. With the start of the war and Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports, much of Ukraine’s exports turned to Europe.
Months of negotiations between EU authorities and Ukraine, which committed to restricting exports, led to the lifting of the embargo on Friday (15).
Nevertheless, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia maintained the embargo, which led to tensions within the union.