Hungary refuses to process 909 cars with Ukrainian agricultural products using new rules

MOSCOW. May 17 (Interfax) - Hungary has specified the rules for the transportation of transit agricultural cargoes from Ukraine: shipments processed and accepted for transportation before May 2, 2023 have seven days to exit the territory of Hungary, while cargoes shipped after May 2 may stay in Hungarian territory for up to 15 days, Ukrainian media outlets said, citing information circulated by Ukrainian Railways deputy director of commerce Valery Tkachev on social media on Tuesday.

According to the demands put forth at a meeting with Hungarian rail carriers, cargoes processed and accepted for transportation before May 2 are subject to the rules introduced by the Hungarian government on April 18, 2023 (a long list of goods banned for import and the seven-day period during which transit shipments must leave the territory of Hungary), the report said.

However, cargoes shipped after May 2 are transported by Hungarian carriers in accordance with the Hungarian government's Decree 177/2023 (V.12.), which bans the import of only four agricultural crops from Ukraine line with the EU's requirements and extend the transit period to 15 days.

A total of 686 cars with grain, 51 with seed meal and 172 with sunflower oil that were loaded before May 2 are currently within the Ukrainian Railways network, Tkachev said. These shipments cannot be processed using the updated rules and have to be transported in compliance with the restrictions that were imposed by the Hungarian government on April 18, he said.

It was reported earlier that Hungary had cancelled its requirement that grain from Ukraine should be transited within seven days, replacing it with a period of up to 15 days.

The main problem facing transit via Hungary was the strict timeline for transit shipments by rail. The current maximum term was seven days, and a fine equivalent to 100% of the cost of transited grain had to be paid if this term was exceeded. That rule discouraged transit companies, especially if there was a need to reload grain on its way to Europe.

Earlier, the European Commission banned the import of wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia from May 2 to June 5, 2023. These "exceptional and temporary preventive measures" are necessary as storage facilities are overfilled and as there are logistics bottlenecks in these five EU member states, the European Commission said. The transit via these five countries to the rest of the EU or other countries will continue.