Ukraine, Hungary discuss continuing talks to reach agreement on Ukrainian grain exports - Agrarian Policy Ministry
MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Nikolai Solsky discussed with Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy the situation surrounding the export of Ukrainian agricultural products to Hungary last Sunday, Ukrainian media reported, citing the press service for the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry.
"Solsky stressed the need to continue negotiations to reach agreements on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products and the unacceptability of unilateral decisions," the statement said.
For his part, the Hungarian agriculture minister pledged that the transit for Ukrainian agricultural products will be preserved, it said.
The parties agreed to hold consultations and to meet again in the near future.
The Ukrainian Agrarian Policy Ministry's press service noted that the Hungarian government, following Poland, temporarily banned the import of grain and oilseeds, as well as other agricultural products from Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian government announced a ban on grain imports from Ukraine and linked it with earlier similar steps taken by Poland and Slovakia.
The Hungarian government was quoted by Ukrainian media as saying in a social media post last Sunday that Hungary had banned supplies of Ukrainian grain following Slovakia and Poland, as Hungarian agriculture and the livelihood of Hungarian farmers could not be endangered.
As reported, on April 15, Poland made a unilateral decision to temporarily halt imports of any agricultural products from Ukraine until June 30, 2023, although on July 7, a bilateral agreement was reached on temporary suspension of exports of only four crops, namely, wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower, while transit continues, but with tougher conditions, which the parties planned to agree upon promptly.
Additionally, on April 13, the Slovak Agriculture Ministry said that it had discovered a batch of 1,500 tonnes of Ukrainian grain with banned pesticides, prohibited the use of any Ukrainian grain and flour and recommended a temporary ban on their imports.
Then on April 14, the ministers of the Visegrad Group of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic, as well as Romania and Bulgaria, held online talks on the Ukrainian grain situation. Following the talks, Slovak Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said that during a meeting of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council (AGRIFISH), which brings together agrarian ministers of all the EU countries, he plans to present the use of an EU instrument by which Ukrainian grain would be bought in cooperation with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). In his opinion, this would help Ukraine in a challenging military situation and, at the same time, protect the EU market from dumping prices of goods from Ukraine.
For its part, the European Commission said on Sunday that independent decisions of individual countries, such as Poland and Hungary, regarding restrictions on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine were unacceptable.
Meanwhile, Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Yavor Gechev said that the Bulgarian government was discussing the imposition of a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain following Poland and Hungary, Ukrainian media reported citing BNR News.
"It is also necessary to protect Bulgarian interests, especially when this restriction has already been imposed by two other countries, there is a serious risk of accumulation of large quantities in our country if we also do not take appropriate measures," he said.
Gechev added that the ban has already been discussed with the agriculture ministers of six European countries. At the same time, Bulgaria asked Brussels about the problem back last September.
On April 18, consultations on the issue will also be held with President Rumen Radev.