Poland, Ukraine announce agreement on transit of Ukrainian grain

The announcement by the Polish Ministry of Agriculture of an agreement with Lithuania to facilitate the transit through Poland of grain produced in Ukraine is the first step taken between these two capitals since the beginning of the diplomatic crisis between Kiev and Warsaw. It does not put an end to the embargo decreed by Poland, but will make it possible to speed up the transit of cereals to regions that are sorely lacking it.

Wheat stored at a terminal after harvest in Ukraine's Odessa region, June 23, 2022 (illustration image). © Igor Tkachenko/REUTERS

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Is the standoff between Warsaw and Kiev over the issue of Ukrainian grain about to end? In any case, a tripartite agreement has been announced. As of Wednesday, Ukrainian grain destined to transit through Poland to reach Lithuania will now be controlled by Lithuanian authorities in a Lithuanian port, Telus said.

According to the Polish Minister of Agriculture, this option will speed up the process since until now these controls were carried out at the Ukrainian-Polish border. Ukrainian cereals that will then be transported either to countries that lack it, or to other countries that have not imposed an embargo on these cereals.

Warsaw maintains its embargo

Because if the question of transit now seems to be settled with this agreement, the same is not true of the import of Ukrainian grain into Poland. Warsaw has not changed its discourse and still wants to protect its market and farmers against the collapse of grain prices, as was the case before the embargo was decreed last spring.

An embargo that was lifted in mid-September by the European Commission, but Hungary, Slovakia and Poland have nevertheless decided to maintain it. The standoff between Warsaw and Kiev is therefore not quite over, even if this agreement will accelerate the transit of Ukrainian grain while many countries are suffering from shortages.

See alsoHow Ukraine exports its grain since the end of the agreement with Russia

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  • Ukraine
  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • Lithuania
  • Poland
  • Trade and Commerce
  • Raw materials
  • Feeding