Shmyhal: Ukraine will ban imports from Poland and Hungary if they do not cancel the “grain embargo”

Ukraine offered the EU and neighboring countries a compromise scenario in order to avoid the continuation of the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain.

The Cabinet of Ministers offers the EU and neighboring countries a compromise scenario — an action plan to control the export of four groups of agricultural products from Ukraine, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said .

Such control will help prevent any market distortions in neighboring EU member states. In particular, the government plans to adopt a resolution that stipulates that goods exported to five neighboring countries will receive verification and approval from the Ukrainian Ministry of Economy.

At the same time, Ukraine has already submitted a formal request to Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia for violation of the norms of the World Trade Organization. Kyiv also launched an “anti-discrimination investigation against the unfriendly actions of these countries in the trade sphere based on the statistics of 2023,” Shmyhal said.

He added that if Poland and Hungary do not agree to the measures agreed with the European Commission and do not cancel unilateral bans on the import of Ukrainian goods, the government will decide to ban the import of certain categories of goods from the specified countries into Ukraine.

“Russia attacks our ports every day, destroys infrastructure, elevators, attacks agricultural enterprises, mines fields. Further blocking of our agricultural exports by neighboring countries will hit the Ukrainian economy, finances, tax revenues and jobs. Such blocking will also play into the hands of the Russian plan to create another world food crisis,” the head of government said.

Shmyhal called on the neighbors to “reject harmful and illegal restrictions, political populism and embark on the path of constructive dialogue, from which everyone will actually benefit.”

The World Trade Organization confirmed on Tuesday, September 19, that Ukraine has taken the first step in the trade dispute and submitted a complaint to the organization regarding the ban on food imports.

“We can confirm that the consultation request was received on Monday evening. Further information will be provided after the request is forwarded to our members,” a WTO official told Reuters.