Hungary has decided to extend the ban on imports of 24 types of agricultural products from Ukraine that are under its national jurisdiction, Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said on his Facebook page on Friday.
The Minister argued that this was to protect the interests of Hungarian farmers.
As reported, the European Commission did not extend the ban on exports of certain agricultural products from Ukraine to five countries after September 15, but Poland has also announced its unilateral extension.
Following the meeting of the coordination platform on Ukrainian grain exports, no decision was made on whether or not to extend the current temporary ban on grain imports to Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria, which expires on September 15.
This was reported to Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday after the 9th meeting of the joint coordination platform, chaired by the head of the cabinet of the Vice President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis, Mr. Hager.
According to her, the first part of the meeting was attended by representatives of five member states, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and the Commission. “The Commission presented the latest forecasts of the market situation in terms of harvest, trade and prices. Countries were invited to share the latest information. The platform also discussed how to increase storage capacity and reduce border crossing time. Finally, they exchanged views on short-term actions to facilitate trade flows and on ways to support transport,” the EC representative said about the content of the first part of the platform meeting.
According to Garcia, the second part of the meeting, which was attended by representatives of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Italy and Croatia, was devoted to alternative routes.
“In the context of this meeting, the Commission informed that no decision has yet been made on preventive measures, the phased abolition of which is scheduled for September 15, 2023. In any case, the Platform will continue to meet regularly and monitor grain imports from Ukraine,” the European Commission representative stated.
As you know, in May 2022, the EU decided to temporarily suspend import duties, quotas and trade remedies on Ukrainian exports to the European Union – known as autonomous trade measures – to help alleviate the difficulties faced by Ukrainian producers and exporters after the Russian invasion. At the same time, following logistical problems in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia caused by imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds originating in Ukraine, exceptional and preventive measures on their imports came into force on May 2, 2023, and were extended on June 5.
“DTEK Energo plans to import about 210,000 tons of coal from Poland for more reliable passage of the autumn-winter period by thermal generation, the energy holding company said in a press release on Wednesday.
Under the fuel import contract, an agreement has been reached on the supply of thermal coal throughout the heating season, starting from September 2023 and until March 2024.
As the company noted, the first coal shipments are expected as early as this week.
“In the conditions of war, unpredictable actions of the enemy and the increased load that the company’s thermal power plants have been carrying in recent months, additional volumes of imported fuel will allow to “back up” and provide an additional margin of safety for a more stable passage of the nearest heating season by thermal generation,” said Ildar Saleev, CEO of DTEK Energo, quoted in the press release.
As reported, DTEK Energy’s thermal power plants have increased their electricity output by 28% over the last four months compared to the same period last year. In turn, in August, when consumption was at record highs for the summer due to the heat wave, power engineers generated 35% more electricity than in August 2022.
In just eight months of this year, DTEK Energy’s thermal power plants supplied almost 9.9 bln kWh of electricity, which is equivalent to the average consumption of about 3.3 mln households during the year.
In January-August of this year, Ukrainian enterprises reduced imports of lead and lead products by 67.9% to $722 thousand ($9 thousand), imports of tin and tin products by 33.8% to $1.633 million ($208 thousand), but increased imports of zinc and zinc products by 10.1% to $28.775 million ($3.934 million).
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in January-August this year decreased by 4.8% compared to the same period last year to $63.289 million ($8.201 million in August), lead and lead products increased by 13.6% to $9.866 million ($0.876 million), nickel and nickel products amounted to $201 thousand ($76 thousand), while in 8 months. 2022 it was $1.339 million.
Imports of tin and tin products fell by 33.5% to $3.312 million, while imports of zinc and zinc products decreased by 58.7% to $38.690 million.
In January-August this year, Ukrainian companies reduced imports of nickel and products by 75.3% compared to the same period in 2022 to $11.038 million ($2.599 million in August), while aluminum and aluminum products increased by 17.8% to $243.990 million ($38.614 million).
In January-August this year, Ukrainian companies increased imports of copper and copper products by 85.1% year-on-year to $77.287 million.
According to customs statistics released by the State Customs Service of Ukraine, exports of copper and copper products decreased by 21.7% to $50.197 million over the period.
In August, copper was imported for $9.975 million and exported for $6.273 million.
In addition, in the first eight months of 2023, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and products by 75.3% compared to the same period in 2022 to $11.038 million ($2.599 million in August), while imports of aluminum and aluminum products increased by 17.8% to $243.990 million ($38.614 million).
At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 67.9% to $722 thousand ($9 thousand), imports of tin and tin products by 33.8% to $1.633 million ($208 thousand), but increased imports of zinc and zinc products by 10.1% to $28.775 million ($3.934 million).
Exports of aluminum and aluminum products in January-August this year decreased by 4.8% compared to the same period last year to $63.289 million ($8.201 million in August), lead and lead products increased by 13.6% to $9.866 million ($0.876 million), nickel and nickel products amounted to $201 thousand ($76 thousand), while in 8 months. 2022 it was $1.339 million.
Zinc was exported abroad for eight months by $88 thousand (in August – $2 thousand) against $1.302 million in January-August 2022. Exports of tin and products amounted to $53 thousand (in August – $1 thousand) against $396 thousand in 8 months of 2022.
As reported, in 2022, Ukrainian enterprises reduced imports of copper and copper products in value terms by 64.3% compared to the previous year – to $65.370 million, while their exports decreased by 56.3% to $90.245 million.
In addition, in 2022, Ukraine reduced imports of nickel and nickel products by 49.9% compared to 2021, to $59.754 million, and aluminum and aluminum products by 33.4%, to $340.398 million. At the same time, it reduced imports of lead and lead products by 66.6%, to $2.839 million.
Imports of tin and tin products fell by 33.5% to $3.312 million, and imports of zinc and zinc products decreased by 58.7% to $38.690 million.
In 2022, exports of aluminum and aluminum products decreased by 42.7% compared to 2021, to $96.972 million, lead and lead products – by 68.7%, to $11.970 million, and nickel and nickel products – by 73.9%, to $1.268 million.
Zinc exports in 2022 amounted to $1.331 million, while in 2021 they amounted to $550 thousand. Exports of tin and products in 2022 amounted to $424 thousand, compared to $346 thousand in the previous year.
