Yesterday at 19:46
Ukraine and Poland agreed to find a joint solution regarding the import of Ukrainian agricultural products. This was announced by the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine following the negotiations between the head of the department, Mykola Solsky, and the Minister of Agriculture of Poland, Robert Telus. Kyiv has prepared a plan for the export of agricultural products, Warsaw will study it and propose its amendments, FREEDOM reports. Differences between Kyiv and Warsaw have been resolved. Ukraine and Poland agreed to find a joint solution to the controversial issue of the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.
“The parties confirmed the close and constructive relations, which have been demonstrated many times, and agreed, taking this into account, to develop an option for cooperation on export issues in the near future. The next negotiations will take place in the coming days, during which the issues prepared for that time by both sides will be discussed. The Polish side will also study the Ukrainian export plan and prepare its proposals for it,” the website of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine reports.
The plan presented by Ukraine will consist of several components. European Commission spokeswoman Miriam Garcia Ferrer said that Kyiv is ready to share information on the export of four types of products that are at the center of the trade dispute, to conduct information campaigns for Ukrainian exporters about the specifics of the markets of neighboring countries, and to provide data on the destinations of exported products. The most important component of the plan is the verification and authorization mechanism. This is a kind of system of export licenses.
“Licenses will be applied, and these licenses will provide complete predictability for the Polish side: what volume and what culture Ukraine would like to sell to Poland. That is, a supplier who wants to sell a certain volume will contact the Ministry of Economy. The Ministry of Economy will contact the Polish authorities and say that there is such and such a supplier and he wants to sell so and so to Poland. And if a farmer or worker proves to his government that he cannot do without this Ukrainian grain, then Poland will give its permission to import,” explained Mykola Horbachev, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association. According to him, if there is an alternative, i.e. an opportunity to buy Polish grain, then probably the Polish authorities will act in this way. At the same time, the transit of agricultural products, which passed through the territory of Poland, will continue. It is important to understand that Poland has never been a target market for Ukrainian grain.
About 10% of exports transited through its territory, said the Minister of Agriculture and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solsky, so the reasons for the conflict between Kyiv and Warsaw should be sought not so much in the economic, but in the political plane. Before the elections in Poland and Slovakia, some candidates are trying to speculate on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products.
“There was such an overlap of both economic and political factors. Yes, the election campaign in Poland and Slovakia. Accordingly, we see the aggravation of passions. There are those who dramatize the situation and even call it a “trade war”. I hasten to disappoint, the situation is far from “trade wars”, to put it mildly. Parties are fighting for their voter, parties are trying to force the voter to make this or that decision with sharp, critical remarks,” said the acting head. Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine (2019) Olga Trofimtseva. In the end, the dispute between Ukraine and Poland can only be beneficial to the Kremlin, say political scientists.
After all, in this way Moscow can try to strengthen anti-Ukrainian sentiments in Poland and anti-Polish sentiments in Ukraine. In addition, Russia long ago turned grain into a weapon, creating a food crisis in Africa and shelling Ukrainian grain warehouses and port infrastructure. But it was not possible to play on the differences between Kyiv and Warsaw.
“Ukraine and Poland are strategic allies that have common interests, goals and values. Both countries need each other. The grain crisis in relations between Kyiv and Warsaw was not caused by the hostile intentions of the parties, but by an objective circumstance — the Russian blockade of Ukrainian seaports,” the Center for Strategic Communications said in a statement. Sooner or later, Ukraine will become a member of the European Union. And then neither a temporary embargo nor a system of export licenses will be able to stop the supply of Ukrainian wheat, corn and oil.
