Slovakia is ready to lift the embargo on Ukrainian grain, but there is a condition

Slovakia will be ready to lift the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain under one condition.

At the meeting of the coordination council at the European Commission, Ukraine proposed a system of grain export guarantees, Slovak Minister of Agriculture Jozef Bires announced before the meeting of EU agricultural ministers in Brussels on September 18.

According to him, the proposal was a surprise for Slovakia, but the country is ready to resume the import of Ukrainian agricultural products after its trial and transition period.

Biresh explained that Slovakia’s unilateral embargo on Ukrainian products was “a natural reaction to protect the national market from excessive imports of goods from Ukraine.”

“Ukraine made a surprise today in the form of some guarantees of control over the import of grain based on licenses. I think this should have been sent early. The European Commission should make some kind of transition period so that we can test this system, check whether it is effective and whether it is a guarantee of prevention of uncontrollable imports,” the minister commented.

He added that Slovakia’s ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine will continue until the system of guarantees from Ukraine is evaluated.

Also, the Ministry of Agriculture of Slovakia will begin studying the effect of Ukrainian guarantees at the national level in cooperation with the financial administration and customs. All logistics will be prepared for inspection – it may take a month or two.

According to Biresh, the five states that restricted the import of Ukrainian grain always expected Ukraine to provide certain guarantees regarding the control of shipments.

It will be recalled that on September 15, the European Commission canceled restrictions on the import of Ukrainian grain. Romania and Bulgaria agreed to the decision, but Poland, Slovakia and Hungary refused to resume imports from Ukraine. In particular, Slovakia extended the ban on the import of Ukrainian wheat and corn, as well as rapeseed and sunflower seeds until the end of the year.

Ukraine responded by starting a legal process to challenge the decisions of Poland, Hungary and Slovakia at the World Trade Organization.

After Kyiv’s statement, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced their withdrawal from the negotiations on Ukrainian grain within the EU Coordination Platform.

Romania also changed its position. Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku will appeal to the country’s government to extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products for 30 days.