Eastern European countries will seek to impose duties on Ukrainian grain

Polish Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus will appeal to the European Commission to impose duties on imports of Ukrainian grain.

This was reported by Polish Radio, citing a resolution of a meeting of agricultural organizations from Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia in Rakolupy Duchy in the Lublin region on April 11. Farmers want to work together to develop a position on grain from Ukraine.

“I will address the European Commission on this issue to solve this problem together. We understand that Ukraine needs to be helped, but it should be done in an even way. Therefore, after this meeting, I will appeal to my colleagues from other countries so that we can jointly appeal to the EU to revise the duties starting in June so that the allocation of those products is evenly distributed across Europe,” the minister said.

Tomasz Obrzanski, head of the Solidarity trade union of individual farmers, assured that such a decision on tariffs is very necessary.

“Without this, either our grain market, or soft vegetables, or all other markets will have problems with stabilization. These duties must be introduced so that our local farms can function properly,” he said.

At the same time, Bulgaria demands additional protection for its agricultural producers, in addition to the 16.75 million euros provided for in the European Commission’s crisis reserve, in connection with duty-free grain imports from Ukraine to the European Union. This position was voiced by Minister of Agriculture Javor Gecev at a meeting of the Grain Advisory Council.

“We remain in solidarity with Ukraine, but we see serious problems and, as a result, we asked the European Commission to take anti-crisis measures and to be more balanced in its approach to the ‘paths of solidarity,'” Gecev said.

Tags: export, grain, EU, Poland, restrictions, Ukraine, Bulgaria