European Commission Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis says the European Commission has reached agreements in principle with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia on the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.
“There are agreements,” he wrote in capital letters on his Twitter page Friday.
Dombrovskis said the European Commission reached “an agreement in principle with Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia regarding Ukrainian agri-food products.” “Together with Janusz Wojciechowski (European Commissioner for Agriculture) we have taken measures to solve the problems of both farmers in neighboring EU countries and in Ukraine,” he wrote.
The Vice President also named the key elements of the deal, which were also agreed with Ukraine. These elements include the removal of unilateral measures by Poland, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Hungary. Then there are “exceptional safeguard measures for 4 products: wheat, corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds and a support package of 100 million euros for affected farmers in 5 member states.
In addition, Dombrovskis reported on the investigation of some other products, including sunflower oil.
Agro-industrial holding Astarta does not expect a significant drop in income because of the ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine imposed by Poland and other neighboring countries, as it intends to export its products to Western European countries, representatives of the company’s board said at an online conference on Tuesday.
“We have permission to transit through these countries. Rather, our export targets are Western European countries, such as Spain, Italy, Greece and Croatia. We don’t see much risk to our revenues,” Infostrefa quoted Astarta Commercial Director Vyacheslav Chuk as saying from a conference call Tuesday.
Julia Bereshchenko, director of investor relations, expressed confidence that Astarta will be supported by expected sugar shortages in the EU and world market.
“Sugar shortages are expected not only in the EU, but worldwide as the world’s largest sugar producers, such as Brazil and India, begin to use sugar to produce ethanol. This could potentially reduce these countries’ exports,” she said.
As reported, Astarta agro-industrial holding, the largest sugar producer in Ukraine, received EUR65.16 million net profit in 2022, down 46.8% compared to 201.
The holding’s EBITDA shrank by 23.2% to EUR154.77 mln, while revenues increased by 3.8% to EUR510.07 mln.
The Hungarian Grain Association has opposed a ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine because it will lead to a deficit on Hungary’s domestic market and undermine efforts to curb the highest inflation rate in the European Union, Zofia Poza, secretary general of the Hungarian Grain Association, said.
“Our members are desperate and don’t support any import bans, in fact we need imports,” she told Bloomberg.
Hungary needs to import about 700,000 tons of feed corn after the 2022 crop failure, according to Hungarian grain growers.
“Eastern neighbor Ukraine will be the cheapest supplier,” she stressed.
Potsa recalled that Hungary used to only perform export control of agricultural products from Ukraine.
“Now we got a widespread ban on imports. It’s hard to call it anything other than amateurish,” the public figure said, commenting on the government’s decisions.
Poza is confident that blocking export flows will put negative pressure on food prices in Hungary, where the inflation rate exceeds 25 percent.
The Hungarian Grain Association represents the interests of flour makers, grain processors and sellers of basic food products ranging from flour and sugar to animal feed and ethanol.
Hungary has joined Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria to impose a ban on Ukrainian grain and certain agricultural products until the end of June 2023.
While business associations in Poland are already saying that such restrictions could hurt local producers.
“Government interference in business has been a hallmark of the rule of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who imposed restrictions on agricultural exports in 2022 after a sharp summer decline in production,” Bloomberg writes.
The publication reminds us that the Hungarian government has also maintained a regime of controversial price controls on basic food products, which the central bank blames for inflating inflation by forcing retailers to raise the cost of other goods to make up for lost profits. Last week, the Hungarian Cabinet of Ministers announced that it would oblige supermarkets to lower the prices of basic foodstuffs as part of a new package of measures.
AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, BAN, Hungarian Grain Association, IMPORTS
Negotiations to unblock imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU between Ukraine, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and the European Commission (EC) continue. The EU offered a package of financial assistance to five countries neighboring Ukraine in exchange for the lifting of restrictive measures on Ukrainian agricultural products, informs the Ukrainian government portal.
“These countries will receive the package offered by the Commission on condition that member states cancel their unilateral measures,” EC Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said after a meeting with representatives of Ukraine and the five EU member states that restrict the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.
According to him, the European Commission understands the importance of a joint EU approach rather than unilateral decisions, which can lead to new bans and thereby endanger the internal European market.
“The Commission has taken note of the views of the participants. We agreed to continue political consultations in the coming days to find an early solution to this problem,” Dombrovskis summarized.
The ban on the transit of Ukrainian grain through the territory of Poland and other countries was imposed last week. Poland subsequently pledged to unblock the transit of Ukrainian products through the territory of a neighboring country.
Dynamics of prices for main agricultural products in structure of Ukraine’s export in 2020-2022
Source: Open4Business.com.ua and experts.news
The Hungarian Agriculture Ministry on 19 April expanded the list of Ukrainian agricultural products banned for import to 25.
According to Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy, quoted by the Hirado.hu daily, the measures were introduced for an interim period and will allow for meaningful and long-term EU measures, a review of the full duty-free nature of Ukrainian goods and the work of solidarity corridors.
Nagy explained that the ban applies to cereals, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, flour, vegetable oil, honey and some types of meat, and is valid until June 30, 2023.
At the same time Hungary does not prohibit the transit of these products through its territory.
Transit traffic is still allowed in Hungary, but the competent authorities will seal the shipments at the border and then monitor them with electronic devices and patrols. Transit procedures for affected products will be checked throughout the country.
The minister added that carriers who violate the rules could be fined. The fine can reach the full value of the cargo.
As a reminder, Bulgaria imposed a temporary ban on food imports from Ukraine, with the exception of transit goods.
In recent days, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia banned import of Ukrainian agricultural products, in Romania there are calls for this due to the harm to local farmers due to lower prices of Ukrainian products.
Poland on the night of April 20 to 21 resumes transit of Ukrainian agricultural products under new rules.
