Ukraine expects constructive talks with Poland, Slovakia, Brussels on agricultural produce exports - minister
MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Ukraine and Poland will discuss some of the agreements they reached earlier on exports of Ukrainian agricultural products during negotiations this week, including, in particular, the passage of some types of agricultural produce via Poland's territory only in transit and on the possible transit and sale of some other types of such produce, Ukrainian media quoted Agriculture Policy and Food Minister Nikolai Solsky as saying during a TV marathon.
"We understand that Polish farmers are having difficult times. But it is Ukrainian farmers who are having more difficult times than anyone else now. We hope for constructive negotiations. We hope to reach an agreement, taking into account the close and strong relations that we [Ukraine and Poland] have developed recently," Solsky said.
Solsky mentioned the fact that Poland appointed Robert Telus new agriculture minister last week, and the two agriculture ministers negotiated online last Friday to discuss options for resolving the current situation and agreed to coordinate some technicalities within a week. A congress of farmers was held in Poland on April 15, after which Poland decided unilaterally to halt imports of any agricultural products from Ukraine, including those passing in transit through its territory.
Exports through Poland are important for Ukraine, since this route provides it with access to the Baltic, Dutch, and German ports, Solsky said. "Due to the simplification of transit terms, we were expected to increase the volumes," he said, adding that he hoped that the Polish side "will confirm this, as it has confirmed until today." He also assumed that export issues would be resolved in time.
Solsky declined to comment on the establishment by Poland of a special taskforce to investigate illegal schemes for importing Ukrainian grain, as he had no information about the investigation files. At the same time, he reaffirmed that, if Poland revealed "any fraudulent practices," Ukraine would help it in its investigation and hold any suspects on its side to account.
Commenting on reports that Slovakia uncovered a batch of Ukrainian wheat containing excessive amounts of pesticides, Solsky said his ministry was officially notified by the relevant Slovak services of the detection of residues of pesticides in a batch of grain from Ukraine.
Most of Ukrainian agricultural products travel through Slovakia in transit, Solsky said. "Their ministry has recommended that Slovak companies refrain from imports, but it did not recommend refraining from transit. Moreover, there is actually no official prohibition. At the same time, the procedure that has been started is a prerequisite for a possible prohibition," Solsky said.
"Among hundreds of thousands of tonnes, you can always find some flaws in a hundred of tonnes. But I assure you that the absolute majority of Ukrainian agricultural products meet quality standards. Moreover, they are certainly better than those currently present in central and eastern Europe, considering the difficult drought season they had," he said.
Solsky also pointed out that Poland and Slovakia would have elections later this year. "Obviously, as in democratic countries, some processes dictated by emotions might be happening there," he said, adding that he was confident that "those trends won't prevail" in the upcoming negotiations.
In commenting on an appeal by six European Union countries to the European Commission concerning problems their countries experienced due to exports of Ukrainian agricultural products through their territories, Solsky said that, while negotiating with Brussels, Ukraine would call for extending the free trade deal with the EU, which is currently valid through 2023. He said he would hope that European politicians would treat Ukraine's request with understanding, taking into account its European integration course and the difficult situation in which it has found itself.