Romania has decided not to rush to reintroduce a national ban on the import of Ukrainian grain

The Romanian government expects Ukraine to submit an action plan by the end of the day on September 18 to introduce effective export control measures to prevent distortions in the Romanian grain market, as announced by the European Commission. This is stated in his message.

“At the same time, the government regrets that no European solution has been found to extend the restrictions on grain imports from Ukraine, measures requested by the member states concerned by this decision,” it said.

According to the Romanian government, depending on the action plan to be presented by the Ukrainian side, it will decide on appropriate measures to protect Romanian farmers.

“The Romanian government is in constant contact with the European Commission and the Ukrainian side to ensure that the new mechanism for limiting the effects of imports of Ukrainian products proposed by the European Commission will prevent distortion of the markets of EU member states that have been protected by preventive measures to limit imports from Ukraine,” the statement said.

Earlier on Friday, the European Commission decided not to extend the ban on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia after September 15. It was introduced on May 2 to replace the corresponding unilateral restrictive measures in these countries, which the European Commission had criticized as unacceptable.

The five EU countries explained the need for such restrictions by the fact that the surplus of Ukrainian grain on the market reduces prices for local agricultural products, which affects the income of local farmers.

Poland and Hungary, which had been the most vocal in demanding that the EU keep the ban in place even after September 15, decided to immediately impose their own national bans on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products, with the Hungarian side expanding the list of goods significantly, as promised.

Slovakia was also going to reintroduce its own restrictive measures against Ukrainian agricultural products, albeit without the intention of expanding them, but no official decision has been announced yet. Bulgaria, on the other hand, abandoned the idea of extending the ban.

The other 22 EU countries also opposed its extension. In his evening address on September 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine would give a “civilized” response if neighboring countries returned to “unneighborly” restrictive measures against Ukrainian agricultural products.

Tags: Ukraine, grain, Romania, restrictions