Ukrainian grain transit via Poland doubles, but export ban must be extended - Polish minister

MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - Ukrainian grain transit via Poland is growing steadily, with the figure standing at 114,000 tonnes in February and topping 260,000 tonnes in June, Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Robert Telus said after online talks with Ukrainian Agrarian Policy Minister Nikolai Solsky.

"This is good news for farmers, as grain from Ukraine does not go to the Polish market," the Polish ministry quoted Telus as saying in a statement on its website.

Ukrainian transit has thus grown 2.3 times.

The European Commission could extend the ban on Ukrainian grain exports to Poland after September 15, Telus said, accusing EU officials and the Polish opposition of attempting to destabilize Poland.

"It's in our interests to protect Polish farmers. This is why Prime Minister [Mateusz] Morawiecki clearly stated there will be no exports of Ukrainian grain to Poland after September 15," Telus said.

Poland wants the solidarity lanes to be effective and Ukrainian goods to be transported without harming the Polish agricultural sector, he said.

Telus proposed ways of facilitating the transit of Ukrainian grain to the seaports of various EU member states, which Solsky was interested in, the ministry said. The statement did not disclose details of the talks, and the Ukrainian side did not make any official comments.

Ukraine would soon present a detailed action plan, the ministry said. According to Solsky, partial damage sustained by Ukrainian port infrastructure has put the country's exporters in a difficult position. They have to reroute grain exports, the statement said.

Speaking about the ongoing negotiations with Lithuania and Latvia on using their ports for Ukrainian grain exports, Telus said, "The negotiations are on the right track."

Poland has markedly increased grain exports via its four main ports this year, he said. Exports stood at 299,000 tonnes in January, 539,000 tonnes in February, 628,000 tonnes in March, 704,000 tonnes in April, 882,000 tonnes in May, and almost 940,000 tonnes in June.

Poland exported more than 4.5 million tonnes of crops over four months of this year, Telus said.

The ministers also discussed access for Polish poultry and eggs to the Ukrainian market and said that the veterinarian services of both countries are working hard to solve the issue.

Ukraine is an important partner of Poland in agriculture and the food trade, the ministry said. Polish agriculture exports to Ukraine grew 16% to $945.3 million in 2022. The main exports were cheese, cottage cheese, animal feed, and coffee. Agricultural exports to the Ukrainian market grew over 35% year-on-year in April 2023, the statement said.

For years, Ukraine has been exporting most of its grain and other agricultural products via Black Sea ports. Port functioning was drastically limited by the special military operation, and exports were largely rerouted to Europe. Large amounts of Ukrainian agricultural products were sold on the markets of Ukraine's EU neighbors, which caused discontent among local farmers. The agricultural sectors of Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Romania were harmed the most. Seeking to solve the problem, the European Union has banned exports of Ukrainian wheat, barley, rapeseed and sunflower seed to those countries until September 15, while transit of those crops is still allowed.