Slovakia halts grain imports from Ukraine

Slovakia will halt the import of grain and other selected products from Ukraine.

The Guardian reports this.

"Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday," the message reads.

As Guardian writes, representatives of the European Union member states in Brussels this week will discuss the decision of Poland and Hungary to ban the import of grain and other food products from Ukraine, a high-ranking EU official said on Monday.

"We expect that Poland and Hungary will offer some explanations, and there will be a reaction from the European Commission," the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the issue was raised at the last summit of EU leaders, particularly by Slovakia and Romania.

"We expect Poland and Hungary to offer some explanation, and there will also be a reaction by the European Commission," the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the matter was raised at the last summit of EU national leaders, including by Slovakia and Romania.

" There is an issue, and we expect the commission to come up with a proposal on that. We'll see what we can do in the coming weeks and months, " he added.

Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said that Kyiv wants to resume the transit of food and grain through Poland as a first step at the talks in Warsaw on Monday.

For reference:

Following Poland, Hungary banned the import of agricultural products from Ukraine.

Over the past few months, Polish farmers have been holding mass protests against the transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products through the territory of Poland to third countries. They emphasized that a significant part of Ukrainian grain is not transported further by transit but settles in Poland, thus reducing the purchase prices in the Republic of Poland for the grain of Polish farmers.

Under the pressure of farmers, the Polish government turned to the European Commission with a call to refuse zero duty on Ukrainian agricultural products. However, the European Commission did not fulfill the main demand of Polish farmers to introduce customs duties on Ukrainian agricultural goods. It extended the agreement on duty-free import of goods from Ukraine for another year until June 5, 2024.

On April 5, against the background of the Ukrainian grain crisis, the previous Minister of Agriculture of Poland, Henryk Kowalczyk, resigned. Robert Telus was appointed in his place, who convened an interdepartmental crisis headquarters on the same day to solve the problem of the influx of Ukrainian grain into the Polish market.

During his official visit to Poland on April 5, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi discussed this issue with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. After that, during a media briefing, he said this problem would be solved shortly.

During a meeting on April 7 at the border with his Polish colleague Telus, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Solskyi said that Ukraine will suspend the export of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower to Poland until the new season.

The European Commission considers the unilateral trade decisions of Poland and Hungary, which banned the import of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products, unacceptable.