Bloomberg reports on Kiev’s negative reaction to Poland’s decision to ban imports of grain, meat and other food from Ukraine. According to the agency, Ukrainian officials said such a ban is a violation of an agreement that Kiev and Warsaw reached earlier this month.
The dispute over the ban on grain and other food supplies from Ukraine to Poland “threatens to shake the alliance that has turned the government in Warsaw into one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters,” Bloomberg reported. The agency specifies that Polish authorities supply Ukraine with arms, humanitarian aid, and host more than a million refugees.
Meanwhile, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said at a rally in Lysa on Saturday that Poland “will continue to support Ukraine,” but will also take care of its farmers.
“However, we have an obligation to protect our citizens, farmers and avoid a crisis in our agriculture,” Kaczynski said.
Bloomberg recalls that a few days ago, Polish Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk resigned because of mass protests by Polish farmers rallying against grain imports from Ukraine.
And farmers are precisely the voters of the Law and Justice party, which is preparing for elections this autumn.
Kaczynski has already promised that the Polish government will buy grain from Polish farmers, and will allocate subsidies for domestic producers, as well as retain the benefits for the purchase of fertilizers.
And the Ministry of Agriculture of Ukraine accused Poland of derailing the agreement, which was concluded the other day. The point is that it is allowed to supply such products as wheat, corn, sunflower and rapeseed from Ukraine to Poland, provided that they are re-exported to other countries before July.
“We understand that Polish agrarians are in a difficult situation, but we emphasize that Ukrainian farmers are now in the most difficult situation,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine, headed by Mykola Solskyy, posted such a statement on its official website.
1,598 total views, 2 views today
