European Commission extends ban on grain imports from Ukraine

The European Commission has officially extended until 15 September a ban on grain supplies from Ukraine to five countries in Eastern Europe, while transit through their territory to other EU countries is allowed. The European Commission said in a statement circulated. “It is still necessary that products such as wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflowers from Ukraine, which compete for the same storage spaces, be imported for consumption or processing into the EU territory in all countries except Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. In order to prevent speculative behavior, this decision is effective from the date of publication and will be valid until September 15,” the document says.  The extension of the decision is due to a serious overstocking of the markets of Ukraine’s neighboring countries with Ukrainian grain, which threatens local production. The European Commission noted that it expects the market situation with grain supplies from Ukraine to improve by the fall, which will be coordinated through a joint platform involving the five troubled EU states, Ukraine, Moldova, which is one of the transit hubs, and the European Commission. On May 2, the European Commission imposed a ban on grain supplies from Ukraine to five EU countries under tough pressure from the agricultural lobby and the governments of these countries. The main role in promoting the ban was played by Poland and Hungary, which were the first to impose unilateral bans on imports of Ukrainian grain in April. Only after that did the European Commission agree to restrict trade in agricultural products from Ukraine, with the condition that the countries concerned should cancel all unilateral bans.