Warsaw hopes Ukraine won't impose embargo on Polish agri-products

Polish Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus said this in a commentary to PAP, Ukrinform reports.

Poland has no confirmation that Ukraine has imposed restrictions on imports of fruits or vegetables, as the Ukrainian government representative said in the media, Telus stated. He hopes that there will be no such embargo, as it would unnecessarily aggravate the situation.

He noted that Poland continues to hold the position that Ukrainian grain should go to the countries to which it was transported before the full-scale Russian aggression, and not to the markets of neighboring EU countries.

The transit of Ukrainian grain through Poland is uninterrupted, he added.

In his words, at the EU level, it is necessary to work out mechanisms to allow Ukrainian agri-products to enter the markets of third countries.

These instruments and mechanisms cannot be temporary. Long-term solutions are needed, also for the period after Ukraine's expected accession to the EU, Telus stated.

In May 2023, the European Commission (EC) banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023.

On September 15, the EC announced that the EU would not extend temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain. After that, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia announced their decision to block imports of Ukrainian agri-products and stopped participating in the Coordination Platform established under the auspices of the EC to resolve this issue.

First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine - Minister of Economy Yulia Svyrydenko announced on September 18 that in accordance with the WTO's dispute settlement procedure, Ukraine had requested consultations with Slovakia, Poland, and Hungary within the WTO.

Ukraine's Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukraine would limit imports from Poland and Hungary if these countries did not lift their grain embargoes.

For his part, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki warned on Wednesday that Poland would impose an embargo on further agricultural products from Ukraine if the Ukrainian government escalated the tension in the grain dispute, including banning the import of Polish vegetables to Ukraine.