Ukraine pushes for diplomatic solution with Poland, Slovakia on grain
By Anna Pruchnicka
KYIV (Reuters) — Ukraine agreed to license its grain exports to Slovakia on Thursday and pushed for a deal with Poland to end restrictions by its neighbours on grain that it has been forced to send overland since Russia's invasion last year.
Slovakia, Poland and Hungary imposed national restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports last week after the European Union executive decided not to extend its ban on imports into those countries and fellow bloc members Bulgaria and Romania.
The countries have argued that cheap Ukrainian agricultural goods meant mainly to transit further west and to ports, get sold locally, harming their own farmers. The EU, which imposed its ban in May, let it expire on Friday after Ukraine vowed to tighten controls.
For much of the last year, some 60% of grain from Ukraine, one of the world's biggest exporters, has transited through the five eastern EU countries.
The row escalated as Ukraine, which turned to land routes to the west after a de facto Russian blockade of its Black Sea (NYSE:SE) ports, filed a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the bans and threatened retaliatory import restrictions.
Slovakia's agriculture ministry said it had agreed with Ukraine to set up a licensing system for trading in grains, which, once established, would allow a ban on imports of four Ukrainian commodities to Slovakia to be lifted.
"(Ministers) agreed on creating a grain trade system based on issuing and controlling licences," the Slovak ministry said by email. «Until this system is up and running and fully tested, the ban on imports of four commodities from Ukraine remains in place.»
Ukraine had agree to drop its WTO complaint, the Slovak ministry said. Ukrainian officials
Read more on investing.com
