Ukrainian cereals: Brussels will release 100 million more for farmers in Eastern countries

2023-04-19 18:43:20

While Bulgaria in turn announced on Wednesday a ban on imports of Ukrainian cereals accused of destabilizing the national market, the European Commission proposed to release an additional amount of 100 million euros to support farmers in Eastern Europe. are the most affected by the drop in corn, sunflower or wheat prices due to the war.

“We are now preparing to present a second package of financial support of 100 million euros (…), as part of a common European approach,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a letter to leaders. of the five EU Member States concerned (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria).

This amount supplements a first envelope of 56.3 million euros granted last month to support the most affected farmers, said the German official.

As a result of the war led by Russia in Ukraine, the EU suspended in May 2022, for one year, customs duties on all products imported from Ukraine. The European bloc had organized itself to allow kyiv to export its grain stocks after the closure of the maritime routes by the Black Sea caused by the Russian invasion.

Corn, wheat or sunflower from Ukraine remain in neighboring countries

But instead of a simple transit, neighboring European states have seen maize, wheat or sunflowers from Ukraine piling up on their soil due to logistical problems, which has caused local prices to plummet. This phenomenon has led Poland, Hungary and Slovakia in particular to ban grain imports from Ukraine in order to protect their farmers.

Hungary, which had already announced a ban on imports of Ukrainian cereals accused of destabilizing the national market, will also apply the measure to dozens of agri-food products, according to a decree published overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday by Viktor’s government. Orban.

Bulgaria, which will ban a wide range of products from Ukraine from April 24, has admitted that this is an “extreme measure” and hopes for a joint decision at EU level in the next weeks. Romania, for its part, prefers to temporize: it will tighten controls on Ukrainian convoys crossing its territory but has refrained from taking a drastic decision for the moment.

Allow the transit of foodstuffs

However, the Commission seeks at all costs to avoid unilateral measures of this type. The access to external markets offered to Ukraine by the EU is “crucial for its resilience in the face of Russia’s war of aggression”, argues Ursula von der Leyen in her letter, a copy of which was sent to the press.

She also recalled that the transit of Ukrainian exports through European soil made it possible to serve developing countries in need. On Tuesday evening, after a meeting between the Polish and Ukrainian ministerial delegations in Warsaw, the Polish authorities announced that they had reached an agreement to allow the transit of cereals through the country.

The transit of cereals through Hungary and Bulgaria remains authorised. However, very strict procedures will be implemented by Budapest at the border posts in order to be able to ensure electronic monitoring during their crossing of Hungarian territory. In the event of an infraction, fines, which may go as far as the value of the entire cargo, may be imposed.