Ukraine warned Poles of a possible grain crisis last summer

UkrAgroConsult

Last year, representatives of Ukrainian business warned European partners that exports of our products could provoke discontent among EU farmers. However, the authorities of neighboring countries assured Ukrainians that everything would be fine.

This was stated by Viktor Sheremeta, Vice President of the Association of Farmers and Private Landowners, in a commentary to Ukrainian Radio.

“Last summer, we met with Polish government officials at the Office of the President of Poland and talked about the problem that could arise, that Polish farmers would be unhappy that grain would be imported through their territory or to Poland.

We were told that there is a certain political force, which is not in power today, that is interested in building up its political image in order to go to the polls with positive political baggage. And they are promoting the idea that Ukrainian grain will hurt Polish farmers,” he said.

Sheremeta sees the only way out of this situation is to develop industries in Ukraine that are related to grain production. In particular, this includes livestock farming.

“For 15-20 years, we have been paying people for the lease of land shares with 95% grain. Now the situation in Ukraine has changed in the other direction – less than 5% of people receive rent in grain, and 95% receive rent in cash. This creates additional difficulties, as this grain needs to be sold to pay people.

Today, grain has fallen significantly in price – by more than half compared to global prices. So now we need to encourage people to use this grain to feed their animals, turning it into meat and milk. Then there would be no need to export grain abroad, and it would be beneficial for both people and the state. This would allow us to kill two birds with one stone – not to export grain, as it is difficult, and to provide our own market with high-quality organic products,” Sheremeta summarized.

Tags: Poland, Ukraine, grain