Five EU countries demand the European Commission to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine until the end of the year

Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia have coordinated an appeal to the European Commission (EC) demanding an extension of the ban on grain imports from Ukraine until the end of the year.

This was stated by the Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Robert Telus, during a press conference following a meeting with representatives of the four countries dedicated to extending the ban on Ukrainian grain imports after September 15.

“We have developed a common position that we will present at the upcoming [EU Agriculture Ministers’] council meeting,” he said. “We support the ban on importing [grain from Ukraine] into our countries until the end of the year. This will be our request. Once again, we are advocating for this ban to be extended until the end of the year. This is our firm position, all of us,” the minister emphasized.

According to him, the five countries also want the list to be “flexible,” meaning that states could add other products or remove them from the list.

As Telus explained, “From the beginning of this year, about 1 million tons of grain have been exported from Ukraine to Poland. Starting from June, Ukrainian grain no longer enters the Polish market.” Before the implementation of the current import ban, the influx of Ukrainian grain destabilized the Polish market. Warehouses were filled with locally grown grains, prices dropped, and the integrity of the new harvest was at risk.

Earlier, the Polish Minister of Development and Technology, Waldemar Buda, warned that Poland intends to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine at least until the end of 2023, even if it has to do so independently without the involvement of other states or the EU.

In April, five Central European countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia) banned the import of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine. Later, they lifted these measures in exchange for the EC’s decision to first establish an embargo on the supply of four types of grains and oilseeds from Ukraine until June 5, and then until September 15 – wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds. Transit of these products to third countries was still allowed.