Countries that have restricted imports of Ukrainian agricultural products will receive €100 million in support only if they lift their unilateral bans

UkrAgroConsult

Five EU countries, which have been offered a €100 million financial support package by the European Commission amid the crisis with Ukrainian grain, will receive funds only if they lift their unilateral bans.

This was stated by Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis and European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski, reports Evropeiska Pravda.

This statement was made after a meeting with representatives of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, and Ukraine.

Members of the European Commission said that at the meeting they presented comprehensive EU proposals aimed at solving the problems of farmers in these 5 countries.

The package of measures proposed by the European Commission includes the second tranche of financial support for affected farmers, exceptional safeguard measures for key products and measures aimed at facilitating the transit of Ukrainian grain exports through “solidarity corridors”.

“The package proposed by the Commission is contingent on Member States lifting their unilateral measures. We emphasized the importance of quickly adhering to a common EU approach rather than unilateral decisions to avoid numerous bans and decisions that jeopardize the internal market,” Dombrovskis and Wojciechowski said.

They added that the European Commission took note of the views expressed by the participants at the meeting. The parties agreed to continue political consultations in the coming days to find a solution as soon as possible.

As a reminder, farmers in Poland and several other EU countries have been protesting against duty-free imports of Ukrainian agricultural products, which has led to a decrease in their income.

Subsequently, the Polish authorities announced the suspension of imports of Ukrainian grain. Hungary, Slovakia, and Bulgaria also did the same.

The European Commission announced a number of measures to resolve the grain crisis, including a second package of financial support worth EUR 100 million to supplement the EUR 56.3 million package already provided to the most affected farmers in these countries.

Further development of the Black Sea and global grain and oilseeds markets will be discussed by UkrAgroConsult analysts and leading agribusiness operators at the EURO GRAIN HUB Exchange & Forum on April 26-28 in Bucharest, Romania.  Join the key stakeholders from the Black Sea region, Central & Eastern Europe and Balkans, contributing to the global commodity supply chain.

Tags: export, grain, Romania, EU, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, restrictions, Bulgaria, subsidies