Image: SAID KHATIB (AFP)
On Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba spoke out against the restrictions.
No form of maintaining the measures is acceptable, Kuleba wrote on Twitter (X). Because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, grain exports from Ukraine via the Black Sea could no longer reach the world market for a time. Deliveries across the Black Sea are still risky at the moment. In mid-July, Russia suspended an agreement on grain deliveries, although the United Nations believes it is important for the world’s secure food supply.
In view of the difficulties, the EU had expanded trade routes, for example by road and rail, between Ukraine and the states of the European Union. As a result, farmers from eastern EU countries faced great competition from the sharp increase in imports, which led to countries such as Poland and Hungary independently restricting the import of certain goods. The EU Commission then introduced a uniform regulation and decided at the beginning of June to extend the restrictions until September 15th.
Poland and Hungary remain with import bans
Poland and Hungary will not allow imports even after the EU-wide import ban on Ukrainian grain expires at midnight. “We will extend this ban even though the European Commission does not agree with it,” said Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Friday in Elk. The Hungarian government also published a regulation according to which the ban on imports of 24 agricultural products from Ukraine remains in place.
“We will do it because it is in the interests of Polish farmers,” Morawiecki continued. Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia had already announced similar measures.
Ukraine is looking for new export routes after the end of the grain deal brokered by the UN and Turkey. Until then, the grain could be shipped across the Black Sea, which was dominated by the Russian fleet. Alternatives to this are land routes. Neighboring countries had originally offered to allow the transport of Ukrainian harvests across their own territory. However, this caused domestic grain prices in Eastern European countries to fall, triggering farmers’ protests. As a result, the EU imposed a temporary import ban that expires this Friday.
Grain exports are the government in Kiev’s most important source of income. Exports also influence global food prices. Poorer countries in Africa in particular rely on the import of comparatively cheap grain.
more from economics
