According to Politico news, Kiev may pursue legal action against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia for their import restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products.
Taras Kachka, the Ukrainian Trade Representative, was quoted in the magazine on Monday warning that Kyiv may potentially apply reciprocal penalties on Poland if Warsaw did not abandon its new actions.
Kachka said, “We would be forced to retaliate on the additional products and would prohibit the import of fruit and vegetables from Poland.”
The European Union placed restrictions on the import of Ukrainian grain in May, allowing Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia to prohibit the domestic sale of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds, but allowing the transit of such cargoes for export abroad.
Despite the fact that the embargo on Ukrainian grain expired last week, Warsaw, Bratislava, and Budapest declared their own bans on the products, claiming that they were doing so to safeguard their farmers and to benefit their economies.
The three nations have expressed concern about how a surplus of grain from Ukraine is threatening their local markets.
However, Kachka said that the bans are “ridiculous.”
He went on to say, “I think that Hungary here is making a political statement that it wants to block trade with Ukraine and as well disregard Brussels completely. And that’s why I think that this is a very bold movement against both of us from Budapest.”
After Ukraine announced it will take steps to improve oversight of shipments to neighboring nations, the EU permitted its ban to expire on Friday.
According to Kachka, Kyiv was prepared to “take on the responsibility to ensure that export from Ukraine is not creating any tsunami in neighboring countries” and would enact a system of “real-time” export permits for grains.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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