Grain from Ukraine: transit to resume after agreement between Kiev and Warsaw

Grain stoked at a farm in Izmail in the Odessa region. AFP - OLEKSANDR GIMANOV

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Poland had decided on Saturday 15 April to ban imports from Ukraine to protect its own farmers, the two countries concluded on Tuesday an agreement on the resumption of the transit of Ukrainian grain.

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We have managed to put in place mechanisms so that not a single tonne of wheat will remain in Poland, that the goods will transit through Poland," said Robert Telus, the Polish Minister of Agriculture, after a meeting with Ukrainian officials. The transit through Poland of Ukrainian grain should therefore be able to resume in the coming days, according to both sides.

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We treat the problems of our Polish colleagues with the same attention as Poland treats ours. Therefore, we must react quickly and constructively to this crisis situation," said Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development Yulia Svyrydenko.

Review of Kiev and Brussels

The transport of Ukrainian grain via Poland will be monitored by a GPS system, the Polish minister said.

Poland decided on Saturday to ban imports of grain and other agricultural products from neighboring Ukraine to protect its own farmers, without consulting either Kiev or the European Commission, exposing itself to criticism from both sides. The pressure came from Brussels, which condemned Warsaw's unilateral decision, followed over the weekend by Budapest's, to ban imports of cereals and other agricultural products from Ukraine.

► Read also: Cereals of Ukraine: embarrassment of the EU in the face of the outcry in Central Europe

Fall in the price of wheat

Ukrainian grain destined for foreign countries has been transiting through the European Union since the traditional export route via the Black Sea was blocked by the Russian invasion. Grain markets in Poland have been destabilized by the influx of Ukrainian agricultural imports. Cheap, they caused wheat prices to plummet. Tons of domestically produced grain are saturating Polish silos from Polish silos, raising the discontent of the agricultural world.

For Ukraine, the challenge is to open one of the transit routes via Poland so that these grains can supply third countries, particularly in Africa.

(

And with AFP)

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  • Ukraine
  • Russia
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  • Agriculture and Fisheries
  • Hungary