EU ministers to discuss Ukrainian grain exports via Baltic states

VILNIUS. July 25 (Interfax/BNS) - The ministers of the European Union countries will discuss Ukrainian grain exports via the EU, including via the Baltic states, Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Kestutis Navickas said in Brussels on Tuesday.

"There are several issues, one of them is to use the infrastructure and ports of the European Union more intensively. For its part, Lithuania has proposed a route through the Baltic states, which would facilitate the transportation and export of Ukrainian grain," Navickas told reporters in Brussels.

The minister said that customs formalities, phytosanitary inspections and other procedures could be moved from the Ukrainian-Polish border to the EU ports, for example, to Klaipeda.

The minister also said that he promised to discuss this with his Polish counterpart, "I hope that we will enlist the solidarity of Poland as well."

Administrative procedures are currently the main obstacles to the export of Ukrainian grain, he said.

Additionally, the calls issued by Ukraine's neighboring EU countries to extend restrictions on imports of Ukrainian grain will be discussed. Last week, Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said that five countries, namely, Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, and Romania, have called on the EU to extend the grain import ban, which will expire on September 15, in order to avoid serious market disruptions.

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, Transport and Communications Minister Marius Skuodis and Navickas urged the European Commission in a joint letter on Monday to bolster an alternative route for Ukrainian grain exports via the Baltic states.