Polish government fears they are losing German market because of Ukrainian grain
Pravda Ukraine
Michał Kołodziejczak, Poland’s Deputy Agriculture Minister, has indicated that reports of Ukrainian grain remaining in Poland despite the embargo have not been confirmed. Nevertheless, Ukrainian products are replacing Polish ones on the German market.
Source: Polish news agency PAP, as reported by European Pravda
Details: Kołodziejczak noted that Ukrainian grain now transits through Poland and is not imported into the country. “Neither wheat, nor maize, nor rapeseed. These products do not stay here,” he stressed.
The official explained that over the past few weeks, he had received several news reports about Ukrainian goods, which should have only passed through the country, supposedly being unloaded in Poland. “None of this activity has been confirmed,” Kołodziejczak said, also urging people to be vigilant about such situations and report any possible violations.
“If I were to protest today, I would block another border. I am not trying to give any hints here, but Poland has imposed an embargo on the goods from Ukraine that we are most concerned about.
[As for] Germany, we also see protests there and the voices of German farmers saying they don’t want these products from Ukraine, where you can see that companies buy a lot from Poland. Still, the government has not imposed an embargo on these worrisome goods, and the German market has also been taken away from us by Ukrainian products (…),” the deputy minister claimed.
Kołodziejczak believes quotas should be imposed on goods from Ukraine entering the EU. Their transport outside the EU should also be rendered more efficient. “We are currently allowing ourselves to be pushed out of Western European markets, and this is a fact,” he concluded.
On Tuesday, numerous protests occurred across Poland, with farmers blocking roads, motorways, freeways and border crossings with Ukraine. The farmers protested against the influx of Ukrainian goods, as well as against European policies related to what is known as the Green Deal.
Background:
- Polish farmers blocked the railway near the Shehyni-Medyka checkpoint and spilled some of the grain from a freight train car on the morning of 20 February. In response to the Polish actions, Ukrainian hauliers began protesting at the Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne, Krakivets-Korczowa, and Shehyni-Medyka checkpoints.
- Oleksandr Kubrakov and Yuliia Svyrydenko, first deputy prime ministers of the Ukrainian government, called for a swift resolution of the blocking of the border crossing points between Poland and Ukraine, including the obstruction of passenger traffic.
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