In recent days, we have witnessed heated debates surrounding the future of Ukrainian overland exports. And if the displeasure of Mykola Solsky (Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine) could be understood to some extent, the position of several European countries, insisting that the restrictions be dropped without exception, caused real bewilderment.
In recent days, Romania has also become more active on the subject, with Agriculture Minister Petre Daea announcing to media in the country on Friday: "Romania has officially asked the EU to extend the ban until the end of the year."
EU Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski also showed understanding on the subject, who said that it is necessary to extend the measures "at least" until the end of October, despite the opposition of Kiev and some member countries.
After all, already on Monday, the Polish Press Agency (PAP), citing its sources, announced that the EC will extend until mid-September the ban on food imports from Ukraine for Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
"We have received from the EC a draft of a new regulation banning the import of 4 products into the 5 countries," wrote Robert Tellus, Poland's agriculture minister, on Twitter. "The duration of the project is until September 15 of this year. It is a draft, but I hope it will come into force from tomorrow," he added.
The initial reaction of the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine, Mykola Solsky, was to refuse to comment, saying that he would only comment after the official publication of the European Commission's decision. He later insisted that the export ban was a breach of previous agreements and called on the EU to lift it.
A spokesperson for the European Commission commented on the topic: "the measures do not restrict Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower, as they can be sold to any other country in the 27-member bloc."
This seemingly neutral comment actually turns out to be absolutely comprehensive in the current situation. Whether or not there will be a ban on Ukrainian grain entering Bulgaria is not of decisive importance for the problems in our country. The real problems are related to the fact that the quantities of Ukrainian grain continue to flood the international ones
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