Poland, Slovakia will seek to extend ban on grain from Ukraine 

This is reported by Bloomberg.

"I do not see any substantial arguments for the current ban to end in mid-September," said Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus.

"I hope that the embargo will not end, that we will be able to get it extended in our coalition of five EU countries," he added.

In turn, Slovak Agriculture Minister Jozef Bíreš said that representatives of five eastern EU countries will meet in Warsaw on Wednesday to prepare a statement for the European Commission demanding that the ban be extended to cover other products.

"We support Ukraine in every possible way, but on the condition that food imports cannot distort the domestic market. We are harvesting, and some of our warehouses are full due to past grain imports," Bíreš said.

Ukraine has repeatedly called on the EU to end the ban on its grain exports, saying it was helping the Kremlin increase pressure on the country’s economy.

Some details regarding bans on Ukraine grain imports

On February 2, Polish farmers began blocking checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. They were outraged that the uncontrolled inflow of Ukrainian grain to Poland had caused prices for their products to plummet. Local farmers argue that Ukrainian grain should have been transported through Poland only to ports, but it ended up on the Polish market. 

On February 16 and 17, Polish farmers resumed protests on the border with Ukraine.

On March 29, Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said that Poland promised to introduce rules that would limit the inflow of Ukrainian grain to the country, explaining that it could destabilize the import market.

On April 7, Ukraine agreed to stop exporting grain to Poland, and on April 15, the country approved a ban on the import of Ukrainian grain and other food products to Poland.

Later, оn April 15, Poland approved a ban on the import of Ukrainian grain and other food products to Poland. The government emphasized that this decision does not change the country's position on support and friendship with Ukraine.

In Romania, farmers are demanding a ban on grain imports and transit from Ukraine, threatening a nationwide protest.

On April 16, media reported that Bulgaria was also considering refusing to import Ukrainian grain, after Hungary and Poland had already made this decision.

On the same day, a spokesman for the European Commission said that unilateral actions by EU member states on trade were unacceptable.

On April 18, it became known that Poland would receive EUR 30 million in aid from the EU amid the crisis with Ukrainian grain. 

After that, Warsaw decided to unblock the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products to European ports on April 21.

Also on April 16, Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Mykola Solskyi held an online meeting with Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy, who assured him that Hungary would not stop the transit of Ukrainian grain.

On April 17, Slovakia became the third EU country to ban imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products.

On April 19, Hungary banned the import of 25 types of agricultural products from Ukraine. The ban on the import of grain, flour, honey, oil and meat from Ukraine to Hungary will last until June 30 this year.

On April 29, the European Commission agreed with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia on the transit of food produced in Ukraine through their territory.

On May 12, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary called on the European Commission to extend the embargo on agricultural products from Ukraine until the end of the year.

In late May, it was reported that four EU countries would insist on extending grain import restrictions from Ukraine until October. At the same time, Hungary wants to extend the restrictions until 2024.  

 Vitaliy Kulyk, Director of the Center for Researching Civil Society Problems, believes that Ukraine is responsible for the oversaturation of the Eastern European market with agricultural products.