Hungary, Poland didn't attend meeting on Ukrainian agricultural exports - European Commission

BRUSSELS. Sept 29 (Interfax) - The 11th coordination platform on Ukrainian exports of agricultural products that met on Thursday achieved progress, European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill said.

Hungary and Poland did not attend the meeting, he said.

"At yesterday's meeting, exchanges of comments on the action plan were finalized, which I think is a very positive, constructive step forward. All parties will now continue, engaging constructively with a view to putting the action plan in place as soon as possible," Gill told a briefing in Brussels on Friday.

"All parties were invited to participate in the platform meeting yesterday. There was no member state participation from Poland and Hungary. However, it is important to note that participation is not obligatory," he said.

There are a series of other meetings, the platform is not the only contact between the commission, the corresponding member states and Ukraine, and the European Commission is ready to support the affected countries, both as part of the platform or outside it, he said.

Responding to a question about the purpose of the coordination platform, which the main parties are ignoring, Gill said specific results had been achieved at every meeting and it continued generating results. "Contacts continue on a bilateral basis. And we are using the platform to try to unite all various aspects," he said.

"The commission really welcomes the efficient work done by Ukraine to introduce these measures in the pace of just 10 days," he said, adding that the meeting was devoted to Kiev's proposal as part of the action plan to control the export of some products to avoid imbalances of competition in some member states.

When asked to give details of measures taken by Ukraine, Gill said it was premature to give details at this point as the work has not been completed yet. The main thing now is that these issues need to be solved promptly, as temporary restrictions on Ukrainian exports expired on September 15, and the flow of products from Ukraine already needs to be monitored, he said.

On September 15, the European Commission did not prolong the embargo on Ukrainian grain exports to the neighboring countries, saying Kiev was capable of settling the crisis using its action plan.