5 Eastern European countries reject Kyiv’s plan to restrict exports of Ukrainian agricultural products – Polish media

Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania have rejected Ukraine’s plan to restrict agricultural exports, which would replace the ban imposed by the European Commission. This was reported by PAP.

According to the agency, the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine will independently decide on granting permits for grain exports to the EU, including the five eastern member states, even if they oppose such permits.

At the same time, Ukraine proposes to consult with EU countries and the European Commission on export permits, but “regardless of the results of the consultations, the final decision will remain with Kyiv,” PAP writes.

At the meeting in Brussels, Poland’s permanent representative to the EU, Andrzej Sados, criticized the Ukrainian proposal, which, according to Warsaw, does not address the issue of controlling and limiting the inflow of Ukrainian grain.

An EU source told PAP that the other five also opposed Ukraine’s proposal.

As reported, on September 15, the European Commission refused to extend the temporary ban on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed to five EU countries neighboring Ukraine.

Following this, Poland imposed its own ban. Hungary and Slovakia did the same.

In May 2023, the European Commission banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.

Tags: EU, Poland, restrictions, Ukraine, grain