Hungary will not only extend but also expand the embargo on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products

Despite a compromise found by the European Commission to lift restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products after September 15 in exchange for restrictions imposed by Kyiv, Hungary has decided to impose its own unilateral ban. This was announced by Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy on his Facebook page.

According to him, Hungary is closing its borders to 24 Ukrainian products at the state border.

“We will protect the interests of Hungarian farmers,” Nagy emphasized.

According to the government’s resolution, Hungary will ban imports of cattle, pigs, sheep and goats, as well as chicken, wheat, rye, barley, corn (and products made from them), vegetables, sugar and wine.

At the same time, the ban does not apply to cargoes that leave the country within 15 days, i.e. are considered to have entered Hungary for transit.

Earlier, Poland announced a grain ban for Ukraine despite a compromise found by the European Commission.

The European Commission had previously announced that it would not extend restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine after September 15, but Kyiv agreed to take measures to limit imports on its part.

As you know, the European Commission imposed a temporary restriction on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to five EU member states – Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The latter argued that Ukrainian grain was hurting their markets and harming farmers.

In June, the EU executive decided to extend the restrictions until September 15, promising that it would be the last such decision.

At the same time, the Polish government adopted a resolution on Tuesday declaring its intention to extend the ban at the national level if it is not extended at the EU level. In response, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal announced an appeal to the World Trade Organization arbitration.

Tags: Meat, wheat, Hungary, wine, restrictions, Ukraine, corn, grain, sugar