Shmyhal: Ukraine has a plan of unblocking the border with Poland

The Ukrainian government has developed and is offering Poland a “Plan of mutual understanding” that should help unblock the border between the states.

The plan to unblock checkpoints on the Ukrainian-Polish border consists of 5 steps. This was announced by the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal.

First step:

Ukraine agrees to the restrictions proposed by the European Commission regarding agricultural exports. The government official emphasized that these are automatic protective measures during the continuation of duty-free trade between the EU and Ukraine. We are talking, in particular, about restrictions on poultry meat, eggs and sugar.

Ukraine agrees with the proposal to export these goods to the EU without quotas and duties in volumes no greater than the average in 2022-2023. If we export more, the restrictions will be returned, explained Shmyhal.

Also, Ukraine is ready to continue the verification mechanism for the export of grain, corn, sunflower and rapeseed. That is, without the permission of Poland, these four groups of goods will not enter the Polish market.

Second step:

Ukraine will offer the European Commission to conduct an urgent analysis of clusters 4 and 5, which include agrarian policy and transport. This is necessary in order to remove once and for all manipulations regarding the quality of our agricultural products, as well as whether support for Ukrainian farmers meets WTO standards.

The third step:

The Polish government will be offered to adopt a joint appeal to the European Commission with a call to stop Russian agricultural exports to the EU.

The Prime Minister noted that in 11 months last year, Russia sold 2.5 billion euros worth of agricultural products and food to Europe — 5.1 million tons of food. For comparison, for the whole of 2022, this figure was 4.9 million tons. That is, Russian food exports to the EU increase during the war. Shmyhal is sure that Ukraine and Poland can definitely replace these products.

Fourth step:

Ukraine proposes to create a “Tripartite Headquarters: Ukraine, Poland, European Commission”. The initiative will be managed by the agricultural ministers of Ukraine and Poland and a representative of the European Commission. Ukrainian and Polish agricultural associations should also join the work of the Headquarters.

The fifth step:

Ukraine expects that the joint Trilateral Headquarters will find a solution for the unimpeded passage of other groups of goods. After all, today there are over 9,000 trucks on both sides of the border.

According to the plan, the Trilateral Headquarters should work around the clock, and the issue of the border blockade should be resolved much earlier than March 28, when a joint meeting of the governments of Ukraine and Poland should take place.

We will remind, on the night of February 25, Polish protesters dumped 160 tons of Ukrainian transit grain on the border.

Previously, USM wrote that the UDS agreed to send exports through the Danube to bypass the border with Poland.