Ukraine sees no reason to ban Ukrainian grain imports by EU countries

MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax) - Kiev intends to discuss with neighboring European Union countries the reasons for imposing a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain, Ukrainian Agrarian Policy Minister Nikolai Solsky said.

"Ukrainian grain was not supposed to be shipped to any country in Central or Eastern Europe in any statement, in any document. It is traditionally shipped to many countries around the world, including to Africa, Asia, and Europe over the past decades. In some seasons, the European G7 countries bought Ukrainian grain, particularly corn, to add it to their supplies," Ukrainian media quoted the minister as saying during a telethon.

Solsky views the statements of European politicians, who say that Ukrainian farmers should have shipped grain only to Asia or Africa, as unfounded. "This does not correspond to either agreements or reality," he said.

The minister said that Ukraine had  traded with Europe intensively for a long time, including with neighboring countries, on a range of different agricultural products, in particular on grain.

Commenting on the situation surrounding Slovakia's ban on a batch of grain with excessive pesticide content, the minister said that the quality of Ukrainian grain is quite high and has long been a standard for other producing countries. "For five or seven years, a number of countries have been taking Ukrainian grain in order to mix it with their own and raise the quality," he said.

"Growing grain is a sophisticated technological process that depends on the weather and many other factors. But there are no claims to the Ukrainian grain of this season. There are significantly fewer of them than to the grain of other countries," the minister said.

Solsky said that the Slovak phytosanitary service has sent a relevant note once, after which a ban was imposed based on general rules of trade, which are spelled out in the legislation of that country.

The minister believes that the low prices that have been set this spring for grain on the global market are behind the motivation, which prompted the neighboring countries to impose a ban on imports of Ukrainian grain. Grain prices traditionally rise during this period. The inability to sell their grain at more favorable prices could also be behind the discontent of European farmers.

"This is a debatable issue. As prices are global and affect everyone - Ukrainians, Poles, Romanians, Slovaks, etc. Prices have gone down this spring compared to a few months ago. This has stirred up emotions of all farmers, not only the Polish ones, but also the Ukrainian ones," he said.

The minister noted another reason is political, which caused difficulties with the export of Ukrainian grain to Europe, where a number of neighboring countries are expected to hold elections this fall. "We take this with understanding and persistently work further. But the Ukrainian losses are very painful and substantial due to these restrictions," Solsky said.

As reported, two-day talks in Warsaw between representatives of the Ukrainian government and their Polish counterparts on the ban on the imports of Ukrainian agricultural and food products to Poland and their transit, which was imposed from April 15 to June 30, ended. The talks resulted in an agreement on resuming transit across Poland overnight from April 20 to 21, 2023, according to a tightened methodology.