Ukrainian cereals: Brussels will produce another 100 million for farmers in Eastern countries

While Bulgaria, in turn, announced on Wednesday a ban on the import of Ukrainian grains, blaming them for destabilizing the national market, the European Commission proposed an additional amount of 100 million euros to support farmers in Eastern Europe, most affected by falling prices. corn, sunflower, wheat, etc. because of the war.

“We are now preparing to introduce a second financial support package of 100 million euros (…) as part of the pan-European approach,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a letter to the leaders of the five concerned EU member states. (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria).

The amount is in addition to the first package of 56.3 million euros provided last month to support the hardest hit farmers, a German official said.

As a result of the war waged by Russia in Ukraine, the EU suspended customs duties on all goods imported from Ukraine in May 2022 for one year. The European bloc has organized itself to allow Kyiv to export its grain stocks after the closing of sea routes through the Black Sea due to the Russian invasion.

Corn, wheat or sunflower from Ukraine remain in neighboring countries

But instead of mere transit, neighboring European states saw corn, wheat or sunflowers from Ukraine piled up on their soil due to logistical problems, causing local prices to plummet. This phenomenon has led Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in particular to ban grain imports from Ukraine to protect their farmers.

Hungary, which has already announced a ban on imports of Ukrainian grains accused of destabilizing the national market, will also apply the measure to dozens of agri-food products, according to a decree issued Tuesday night by Viktor Orban’s government.

Bulgaria, which will ban a wide range of goods from Ukraine from April 24, acknowledged that this is a “last resort” and hopes for a joint decision at the EU level in the coming weeks. Romania, for its part, prefers to wait: it will tighten its control over Ukrainian columns crossing its territory, but has so far refrained from making a radical decision.

Allow food transit

However, the Commission strives to avoid unilateral measures of this kind at all costs. The access to external markets offered to Ukraine by the EU is “essential for its resilience in the face of Russia’s war of aggression,” Ursula von der Leyen said in a letter, a copy of which was sent to the press.

She also recalled that the transit of Ukrainian exports through Europe made it possible to serve developing countries in need. On Tuesday evening, after a meeting of Polish and Ukrainian ministerial delegations in Warsaw, the Polish authorities announced that they had reached an agreement to allow the transit of grain through the country.

The transit of grain through Hungary and Bulgaria remains permitted. However, Budapest will apply very strict procedures at the border posts in order to be able to provide electronic control during their crossing of Hungarian territory. In case of violation, fines can be imposed, which can reach the value of the entire cargo.