EU Commissioner for Agriculture calls for a ban on Ukrainian imports by the end of the year

On August 31, European Union Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski supported the extension of the temporary ban on imports of Ukrainian grain to five EU countries until the end of 2023, Euobserver reports.

Wojciechowski also proposed to provide subsidies to Ukrainian grain exporters.

The ban, which is currently in effect in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, will expire on September 15. As part of these measures, Ukrainian agricultural products are shipped through these countries to other countries that need grain.

Speaking to a group of MEPs, Wojciechowski also said that the EU should consider subsidizing the cost of transit of Ukrainian grain to seaports such as the Baltic states. This proposal, he said, has the support of five of Ukraine’s neighboring countries.

“This is not a proposal of the Commission, but I hope it will be,” the European Commissioner said and warned that reopening markets would cause a “huge crisis” in Ukraine’s neighboring countries.

The European Commission confirmed that no such proposal is currently under consideration.

Wojciechowski said that he is currently working on increasing the capacity of the EU’s so-called “solidarity routes” and removing bottlenecks that have arisen in these countries due to the sharp increase in grain exports from Ukraine.

It is expected that the next meeting of the Joint Coordination Platform, which will bring together representatives of the EU Commission, Ukraine and the five states, will take place on September 5.

As a reminder, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Executive Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis have recently discussed restrictions on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products. Earlier, five EU countries-Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia-advocated a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain by the end of the year.

At the same time, a meeting between the presidents of Ukraine and the European Commission in Greece discussed the resumption of exports of Ukrainian agricultural products to European countries after September 15. Ursula von der Leyen said that “there will be no unreasonable decision to extend the embargo after September 15.”

Tags: restrictions, Ukraine, grain, EU, Poland