Until now, Romania tried to help neighboring Ukraine in every way and did not take a firm position, even when the quantities imported into the country began to hamper the normal operation of the port of Constanta, and farmers felt pressed against the wall.

Tolerance was shown even as Kyiv made a formal request to the European Commission to adapt the Indicative Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) by including the routes from the inland waterways at the mouths of the Danube arms - Kilia and Bastroe.

But now, with the future of the Black Sea Corridor becoming increasingly unclear and Ukrainian demands growing, Romania's agriculture minister couldn't stand it, telling reporters: "I had four meetings with the minister, two of them privately, and I told him very clear and precise that I am a friend of the Ukrainian farmers, but I am not their stepfather!'

"As for me, as a minister I have sought to do my due diligence and remain in constant institutional correspondence with the European Commission so that we can mitigate the damage that has occurred as a result of imports from Ukraine. This is how we came to Regulation 1100, which states that until September 15, these measures limit the import of the four products: wheat, corn, sunflower and rape, which have affected the Romanian market," Daea added to Prima News.

"We've argued -- and I've argued all along -- that this measure should stay until the end of the year. We will analyze carefully! In addition, a cooperation platform was created, led by the Vice-President of the European Commission, so that through consistent and continuous analysis, we can reach the right conclusion, so as not to distort the market, and farmers have the opportunity to both store and capitalize their grain'

"Storage is part of the crop cycle, but their interest drives them to capitalize as quickly as possible and at the best possible price to recoup their costs and get a profit margin to use in subsequent crop cycles." he finished.

At the beginning of the week, grain prices for delivery to the port of Constanta were: bread wheat - 199 EUR/ton, feed wheat - 187 EUR/ton, corn - 180 EUR/ton, barley - 172 EUR/ton, sunflower - 369 USD/ton .