Poland and Hungary Ignore Meeting on Ukrainian Grain Exports – EU

The European Commission has provided details of a meeting of the coordination platform for the export and transit of Ukrainian agricultural products.

European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill noted during a briefing that the meeting discussed Kyiv's plan to licence and inspect four types of agricultural products.

"Yesterday's meeting focused on an exchange of views on Ukraine's proposal for an action plan; the action plan proposes measures to control its exports for specific products and prevent market distortions in the five neighbouring member states," he said.

The meeting agreed to finalise the plan and presented proposals for this.

The European Commission hopes that the plan will be implemented in the shortest possible time.

Furthermore, Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice President of the European Commission, will pay a visit to Slovakia next week, during which he will, among other things, visit the border area to assess the work of what is known as the "solidarity lanes".

Olof Gill also said representatives of Poland and Hungary did not attend the meeting of the coordination platform. However, the EC representative noted that participation in the gathering was not mandatory.

"There was no member-state participation from Poland and Hungary. However, it is important to note that participation is not obligatory; these are ongoing meetings that are happening with a great frequency," he said.

The official added that the European Commission continues to engage with all parties concerned, both outside and within the platform.

Ukraine has proposed an export control plan for four crop groups – wheat, maize, sunflower and rapeseed – to the European Commission and Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania to protect their domestic markets.

Nevertheless, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced unilateral restrictions on Ukrainian imports, prompting Ukraine to challenge their actions at the World Trade Organisation.