Who sabotaged Ukrainian-Polish farm import dispute

On 28 March, Polish-Ukrainian intergovernmental consultations were ongoing in Warsaw.

Kyiv places high expectations on these negotiations, but the chances for a successful outcome were not plentiful.

And that's how it turned out. The joint statement approved by the two governments only mentions that the parties "confirmed that trade liberalisation measures should be shaped in such a way as to have a positive impact on the economies of the Republic of Poland and other EU Member States as well as Ukraine without destabilising their markets."

Read more about the consultations in an article by Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor – Warsaw is heading towards escalation. How a Polish official thwarted a compromise with Ukraine.

So, the meeting did not lead to breakthrough agreements.

Despite this, Ukrainian participants in the negotiations generally view the meeting in Warsaw positively.

"It's good that this meeting has finally taken place. It's bad that it hadn't happened earlier," noted Mykola Solskyi, Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food.

The day before, he had participated in more than five-hour consultations with representatives of Polish agriculture and Polish farmers. "We have become twice as close to compromise with Poland on most agricultural issues as we were before these negotiations," he mentioned.

In particular, claims from the Polish side regarding Ukrainian honey and poultry have been withdrawn as a result of the consultations.

As for other groups, especially sugar and raspberries, the parties agreed to continue talks, with a new round taking place next week.

Mykola Solskyi acknowledges that reaching an understanding was facilitated by news from Brussels. The extension of autonomous preferences for Ukraine is to be finally approved on 29 March, but with additional restrictions.

Poland was a key lobbyist for these restrictions, so Brussels' decision in general satisfied it.

It is expected that the list of goods for which rapid implementation of protective measures is possible will be expanded. In addition to eggs, poultry, and sugar, as proposed earlier, oats, maize, barley grits and processed grain of cereal crops will be added.

Most importantly, the calculation period will be extended. If previously the possibility of implementing protective measures arose if Ukrainian exports exceeded the average import in 2022-23, now the second half of 2021 will also be included.

The Ukrainian side was flatly against this extension. Evidently, Warsaw already counts it as one of its victories.

As a result, for example, the average annual sugar imports will decrease from 324 to 262 thousand tonnes, eggs – from 28 to 23 thousand tonnes, and poultry – from 146 to 136 thousand tonnes.

As for the rest, Ukrainian exports to the EU were high in 2021 as well, so extending the period should not affect new volumes.

Moreover, according to EuroPravda, it was highly likely to reach a compromise on transit. The Ukrainian side proposed voluntary restrictions on Ukrainian companies' transit through Poland this year, provided that transit for products under already signed contracts is preserved.

According to participants in the talks, however, this compromise was blocked by Michał Kołodziejczak, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland.

"His behaviour was so inadequate that now it's just awkward to criticise Ukrainian officials. It looked like he was under certain substances. He constantly stormed out of the room, and when back, he started attacking us with renewed vigor," said Alex Lissitsa, the President at Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, who participated in the negotiations.

According to him, Kołodziejczak constantly interrupted discussions, demanding that others present prevent Ukrainians from taking over Polish land.