Slovakia bans import of selected agricultural products from Ukraine

Slovakia’s government has approved a ban on imports of selected agricultural products from Ukraine, Agriculture Minister Samuel Vlcan said on Monday, adding that it will maintain transit of Ukrainian grains and other products.

Vlcan told a televised press conference that the decision to protect Slovak markets came after Poland adopted restrictive measures for the first time to ban grain imports over the weekend.

The same measure was taken by Hungary, also last weekend. Other countries in Central and Eastern Europe said they were also considering action.

Opening

Ukraine, for its part, intends to reopen transport from Poland as “a first step” to end the bans.

Some Black Sea ports were blocked after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February last year and large amounts of Ukrainian grain – which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union – ended up in Central European countries because of logistical problems. .

Local farmers say this has lowered prices and reduced their sales, and governments have asked the European Union to act.

“The first step, in our opinion, should be the opening of transit, because it is very important and it is something that must be done unconditionally and after that we will talk about other things,” said Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky.

About 10% of food products exported from Ukraine cross the Polish border, Solsky said in comments posted on the messaging app Telegram by the Ministry of Agriculture. Deliveries to Hungary accounted for about 6% of Ukraine’s agricultural exports, he said.

Ukraine will hold additional talks in Romania on Wednesday and in Slovakia on Thursday, Solsky added.

Poland’s embargo, in effect since Saturday night, also applies to transit through the country to prevent grain transport from entering the Polish market.

“The ultimate goal is not for the import ban to be in effect indefinitely, but to ensure that grain from Ukraine, which is going to be exported, goes (where it is going),” said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jablonski , to radio station RMF.

(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev and Pawel Florkiewicz in Warsaw; Additional reporting by Gabriela Baczynska in Brussels, Boldizsar Gyori in Budapest and Jan Lopatka in Prague);