Ukraine should remember that it receives help from Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday, amid an increasingly acute dispute between the two countries over agricultural imports, News.ro reports citing Reuters.
Andrzej DudaPhoto: Efrem Lukatsky / AP / Profimedia
While Poland remains a staunch supporter of Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, the two countries have been at odds over Poland’s recent extension of a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, which Warsaw says is necessary to protect its the farmers. Kiev retaliated and threatened to go to the arbitration courts of the World Trade Organization.
“It would be good for Ukraine to remember that it receives help from us and to remember that we are also a transit country to Ukraine,” President Andrzej Duda told reporters in New York, after a speech in before the United Nations General Assembly.
Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports from Ukraine on Friday, after the European Commission decided not to extend the approval of the ban on Ukrainian grain sales in Ukraine’s five EU neighbors, which also include Romania and Bulgaria. The ban was introduced after these countries woke up to a flood of cheap imports from Ukraine as Kiev scrambled to ship the grain further afield.
While Ukraine called for “constructive dialogue” on Tuesday, a spokesman for the World Trade Organization (WTO) confirmed that Kiev had taken the first step in a trade dispute by filing a complaint with the world trade body.
President Duda declared that, if Ukraine submitted the complaint, Poland will explain the situation in front of the court. He emphasized that the ban concerns imports, but not the transit of Ukrainian grains.
“There are business circles that have interests in Ukraine and would like to sell grain as quickly as possible at the lowest possible cost. We have to defend against this,” he said. “I would compare it to something similar to a person who is drowning… A person who is drowning is extremely dangerous because he can pull you into the depths… He can simply drown the one who saves him,” he emphasized the Polish president.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denîs Shmihal confirmed, on the other hand, that Kiev will impose import restrictions – as a retaliatory measure – on certain categories of goods from Poland and Hungary, if they do not lift their unilateral bans. Meanwhile, Ukraine is conducting an investigation to prove that the unilateral bans are discriminatory, he said.
Shmihal explained that Kiev proposed to the European Commission and neighboring countries an export control plan for four groups of agricultural products, to prevent market distortion – a plan he described as a compromise scenario. “We once again appeal to our neighbors to abandon harmful and illegal restrictions, political populism and embark on the path of constructive dialogue, from which everyone will actually benefit,” he said.
Ukraine approved the introduction of export licenses
Signaling its intention to move forward with the compromise proposal, the Ukrainian government on Tuesday approved the introduction of export licenses for a range of agricultural products for export to Ukraine’s five EU neighbours.
“The Government of Ukraine has approved a new procedure for the export of certain types of products to certain EU member states,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement. “This stipulates that four crops – corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds, wheat, which are exported to 5 countries – must be licensed by the Ministry of Economy in agreement with the Ministry of Agriculture,” the document explains.
The ministry stated that Kiev will agree on the list and volume of products with the importing countries, which, in turn, will determine if they are ready to accept these goods, in what volumes and in what term. “Only then will we issue permits for our companies to export certain products. Ukraine controls its exports and coordinates them with destination countries,” he added.
Russia’s war against Ukraine has disrupted Kiev’s ability to export agricultural products through its Black Sea ports, leading to a surge in shipments by road, rail and barge across the five neighboring European Union countries. Farmers in these countries said the shipments were distorting local markets, prompting the EU to approve trade restrictions – while still allowing transit – until September 15. The EU did not extend those restrictions last Friday, but Warsaw, Bratislava and Budapest announced their own restrictions on imports.
On Monday, Spain’s agriculture minister, whose country holds the EU Council presidency, said the bans appeared illegal, while his French counterpart said they called into question European solidarity.
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