Poland calls for quotas on Ukrainian food supplies to EU

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Poland calls for quotas on Ukrainian food supplies to EU

MOSCOW. Feb 21 (Interfax) - Ukrainian grain does not remain in Poland, but it is squeezing Polish agricultural products out of the markets of other EU countries, for example Germany, Ukrainian media, citing the Polish farmer.pl media outlet, quoted Polish Deputy Agricultural Minister Michal Kolodziejczak as saying.

No cases of Ukrainian agricultural products intended for transit remaining in Poland have been recorded so far. "Not wheat, not corn, and not rapeseed. These products do not remain here," he said, adding that in the past few weeks, the Polish Agriculture Ministry has been receiving reports on the alleged unloading of Ukrainian products, which were supposed to transit via Poland, in the country.

"None of these reports were confirmed," Kolodziejczak said.

At the same time, he said Ukrainian grain was detrimental to other countries of the European Union, such as Germany, while Polish agricultural products are losing their shares on these markets.

"If I had protested today, I would block a different border. I don't want to insinuate to anyone here, but Poland introduced an embargo on goods from Ukraine which we find the most concerning. At the same time, we are also witnessing protests in Germany and voices of German farmers saying that they do not want these products from Ukraine, but the government has not introduced an embargo on these products. Ukrainian products also took the German market away from us," the minister said.

The situation could be resolved if quotas for Ukrainian goods exported to the European Union are introduced, and more of them are shipped to other countries, he said.

Polish farmers started a nationwide protest on February 9. The main demands of the protestors are simplification of the European Commission's green policy, limiting the inflow of Ukrainian farm produce and making agriculture more profitable. The protests should last for 30 days, during which farmers intend to block all Ukrainian-Polish border crossings and several transport hubs.