Poland may stop transit of Ukrainian agricultural products from 1 April

Poland and Ukraine are now actively discussing the possibility of introducing a licensing system for agricultural products. According to Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Getman, Warsaw is also hoping to stop the transit of Ukrainian grain from 1 April.
 

"We are very advanced in negotiations with Ukraine regarding the licensing system that our predecessors failed to introduce. We are already at the stage of negotiations with the Ukrainian side on sensitive products. I hope that these negotiations will continue this week and will be close to being finalised," he said, Radiy Lublin reported.
 

Getman also noted that the Polish government plans to compensate farmers for excess wheat.
 

"We hope, since we have talked about it with the Ukrainian side, that even transit, primarily corn and wheat, will practically stop from 1 April," the Polish official added.

He also noted that during the long three months of protests by Polish farmers on the border with Ukraine, it was possible to accommodate many demands of the farming community, including those related to the European Green Deal.

It should be recalled that most agricultural products from Ukraine are exported by sea, bypassing Poland, but there are goods that cannot be transported by sea. Even though 86% of agricultural products are exported by sea through the ports of Odesa and the Danube region, there is a shortage of transport options for goods that are not suitable for the sea route and a demand for them, particularly among German consumers who cannot get sugar and oatmeal from Chernihiv region through the port of Hamburg. This leads to significant logistics costs.