An agreement was reached on the transit of Ukrainian grain

EU Commission reaches ‘principled’ agreement with five countries EUwhich guarantees the transit of Ukrainian grain.

On Friday, European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis said the EC had reached an “agreement in principle” with Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania to “solve the problem.” It provides for the termination of unilateral bans by these states in exchange for “exceptional protective measures” against four types of “primary” agricultural products from Ukraine: wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and rapeseed. Other products will be evaluated at a later date.

The agreement also guarantees the possibility of transit of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products through these five states to third countries, which is decisive for Kyiv, which seeks to continue exporting its products.

The European Union in May 2022 suspended customs duties on all products imported from Ukraine for one year and organized the export of Ukrainian grain stocks after the closure of the Black Sea routes due to the Russian invasion. In neighboring countries, this led to an increase in the supply of corn, wheat and sunflower from Ukraine, overflow of elevators and a drop in local prices. Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria banned imports of grain and other agricultural products from Ukraine in mid-April, saying they intended to protect their farmers. On April 19, the EC pledged an additional 100 million euros in aid to affected farmers in five countries (following a decision in March to allocate 56.3 million euros from the Common Agricultural Policy crisis reserve).

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