On Tuesday, Warsaw informed the European Commission (EC) of its decision to unilaterally extend the embargo on grain imports from Ukraine to Poland if such measures are not adopted in Brussels, Polish radio reports.
“At the end of the government meeting, the Prime Minister’s Office informed that the Cabinet of Ministers called on the EC to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, which expires on September 15,” the radio reports.
“Otherwise, Poland will impose such a ban on its own at the state level,” the report says.
“The government has decided to extend the ban on the supply of Ukrainian grain to Poland,” Polish Agriculture Minister Robert Telus said on Polish television earlier on Tuesday. – “This will benefit farmers, the Polish economy and European solidarity.
Polish television reminds that the ban on grain imports from Ukraine to the five frontline EU countries that are neighbors of Ukraine – Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia – is in effect until Friday. All of these countries have sent a request to the EU leadership to extend the embargo until the end of the year. No decision on this issue has been made yet.
The European Commission has banned imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds originating in Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia since May 2. On June 5, it was decided to extend these measures until September 15.
Brussels then stated that these “exceptional and temporary preventive measures” are necessary due to overcrowding in warehouses and difficulties due to the existing serious bottlenecks in logistics faced by these countries.
The European Commission also reported that the transit of these goods through these five frontline countries to the EU or other countries outside the EU remains possible.
Poland will not allow grain imports from Ukraine after September 15, as the interest of Polish farmers is more important to the country’s government than any EU rules on this issue, said Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Robert Telusz.
“We know what could have happened if grain (from Ukraine) had arrived in Poland after September 15. Especially since the price of grain is currently low, and the granaries are already full. We know that this is in our interest and we will defend it. That is why I am going to Spain with this message to the summit of agriculture ministers,” the Polish publication farmer.pl quoted him as saying during the National Agricultural Exhibition in Czestochowa last Sunday.
Telusz informed the public that on Monday he will visit Spain, where he will convince the European Union to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine to the EU until the end of 2023 after September 15, together with representatives of other frontline countries – Hungary, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Romania.
“When the war in Ukraine broke out, Polish society, including farmers, became the saviors of the Ukrainian cause. (…) Polish society became a lifesaver. Today in Brussels, we are loudly declaring: a dead rescuer is a bad rescuer. We will not allow the Polish farmer to lose because of arbitrary decisions of officials from Brussels,” said Deputy Minister of Agriculture Krzysztof Ciezora.
According to Janusz Kowalski, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Polish government has supported Polish farmers to the tune of EUR 3.181 billion, while the amount of financial support from the European Commission is only EUR 63.614 million.
Metinvest mining and metallurgical group will invest in a logistics center in Poland in order to increase the supply of Ukrainian metal products for export, the company’s CEO Yuriy Ryzhenkov said in an interview with the leading Polish business publication Business Insider.
According to him, Zaporizhstal and Kamet Steel are currently operating at 65-70% and 75% of their capacity, respectively. About 25% of products are sold on the domestic market, the rest goes mainly to the EU. At the same time, steel is sold mainly in neighboring countries, such as Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria.
The company also sells metal products to Italy, Germany or France.
“Steel mills can hardly complain about the low level of sales, but iron ore enterprises were less fortunate. Here, in addition to domestic consumption, China was also a buyer. However, in the current situation, exports there are practically impossible, since the Black Sea ports are blocked, therefore, the border countries of the EU also remain buyers here. Iron ore enterprises now use about 35-40% of their capacity. We tried to send raw materials to China through Romanian and Polish ports. However, unfortunately, the economy of this logistics simply does not work in the current market,” the top manager said.
He noted that at the same time, the coal production of the company in Ukraine operates at 100% capacity. The mined coal is supplied to the group’s coking enterprises in Ukraine, and is also sold on the local market. The rest is sold abroad, mainly in Slovakia and Poland.
“In 2022, our steel production decreased by 69% compared to last year. This affected a number of financial indicators. For example, our profit in 2022 is 54% less than last year,” the CEO said.
He also stated that Metinvest’s strategy has not changed – the company wanted to connect Ukraine and Ukrainian iron ore with the European steel production chain. Therefore, the group continues to look for opportunities to acquire assets that would allow it to use the Ukrainian raw material base, produce products in the EU and supply them to European consumers.
Data from local authorities show that seven people have died and 113 hospitalized in Polish Rzeszów, which is about 100 km from the border with Ukraine, due to legionellosis (Legionnaires’ disease), Bloomberg reports.
Authorities in Rzeszów are conducting tests to find out the source of the outbreak, with results expected on Monday, regional government head Ewa Leniart told Poland’s RMF radio.
She said the contamination is believed to be caused by water in the water supply system and the situation is under control.
At the same time, it is pointed out that Poland’s Internal Security Agency (ABW) is checking whether the outbreak of legionellosis in Rzeszów could have been a sabotage, given the city’s role as a transit center for supplies to Ukraine. Such actions are aimed at ruling out any external influences that could lead to the spread of the disease, Poland’s deputy minister-coordinator of special services Stanislaw Jarin said on Twitter.
Legionellosis (Legionnaires’ disease) is an acute infectious disease caused by various types of microorganisms, which affects lung tissues and is characterized by the development of a severe form of pneumonia. According to the OIE, the most common form of transmission is inhalation of infected water splashes.
If necessary, Poland will impose a unilateral ban on imports of Ukrainian grain after September 15, while the transit of goods will be maintained, Agriculture Minister Robert Telusz told Polsat News at a press conference on Tuesday.
He denied media reports that a split in the coalition of countries banning Ukrainian grain imports had occurred and that the number of EU member states opposing Poland’s position on extending restrictive measures after September 15 had increased from 13 to 20.
“This is the first time I’ve heard that more countries are against it. I have talked to many ministers from the European Union about this. I see an understanding that we need to build a coalition. We have to build a mechanism. I am convinced that Romania is a member of the coalition,” Telusz was quoted as saying by the Polish publication farmer.pl.
He also said that next week he will hold talks with representatives of Slovakia to determine together “in which direction we will move.”
“At the moment, I have no doubt that there is a coalition,” Telusz assured.
The Polish minister emphasized that keeping the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain only until September 15 is “a political argument to further destabilize the situation in Poland.”
“We will not allow this,” he assured.
The Polish government wants this issue to be resolved “amicably in the European Union, so that there is no need to break down the door.”
“If it is necessary (…) to introduce unilateral bans, we will introduce them, because we are concerned about the interests of farmers (…), and there is no discussion on this topic,” Telusz stated.
Answering a question about possible risks of penalties being imposed on Poland if it violates the rules of the single market, the Minister said that “I don’t want to hear how we, the Poles, are being scared by fines (…)” and added that Poland “will pursue a tough policy in the interests of the Poles.”
Telusz said that Poland is in dialogue with Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia to transit grain through Poland.
“We are in dialogue with Ukraine, as well as with Lithuania and Latvia, to use their ports,” he said, and assured that the grain that leaves Poland does not return.
“If we are talking about the food security of Poland, the food security of Europe, then the grain must flow to Europe and must flow outside of Europe. We will help you on the way,” the head of the Polish Ministry of Agriculture said.
According to him, before the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain, about 114 thousand tons of grain entered Poland in transit, and in June – 260 thousand tons. At the same time, about 6 million tons of grain “left” Poland. Poland has about 3-4 million tons of grain left, “but this is a reserve that should always be there,” as the monthly demand for it is 2.5 million tons, the Polish Minister of Agriculture explained.
On June 5, the European Commission agreed to extend until September 15 the restrictions on exports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. “The restrictions do not imply a ban on the transit of these goods through Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia,” reads the document signed by EC President Ursula von der Leyen.
Ukrainian clothing brand Solmar since February 2022 has expanded its network to 12 stores in Ukraine and entered Poland, in the nearest plans to expand the Ukrainian network by 10 more stores, business development director Tatyana Lakhtadyr told the agency “Interfax-Ukraine”.
“At the time of the full-scale invasion, the network had seven stores in Kiev, Vinnitsa, Khmelnitsky, Lviv and Zhitomir. Today the chain has added five more stores and three more stores will open within the next month: in Kiev’s Ocean Plaza and Lavina mall and in Veles mall in Ivano-Frankivsk. We are also preparing the opening of the first street-format store in Uzhgorod”, – said Lahtadyr.
Solmar, a Ukrainian basic closet brand with a Ukrainian team, traces its origins to Instagram. By the beginning of 2022, more than 60% of sales came from the online channel (website solmar.com.ua and Instagram page). The first “brick-and-mortar” (offline) stores were opened in July 2020 almost simultaneously in Khmelnytskyi and Kyiv.
“These were small stores of just over 30 square meters, which were supposed to serve more as showrooms for the assortment presented online. But almost immediately we realized that a different customer comes to the store than online. Offline stores became a full-fledged channel for attracting new customers and Solmar brand connoisseurs”, – said Lakhtadyr.
Now the company is working on expanding the assortment and actualization of the store format (about 100-150 square meters). Children’s assortment, perfumes have already been added to the basic women’s closet, and several positions of men’s collection are planned for the fall-winter season.
Lakhtadyr said that Solmar continues active development of offline network, in Ukraine in the coming year it is planned to open at least 10 locations.
“In addition, in July we opened our first store in Poland in Poznan (shopping center Posnania) and we are already finalizing negotiations on the second location. It is too early to talk about the first results, but sales from the site in Poland are already yielding results above our expectations. I think that next year will be the year to open a new country for Solmar”, – said Lahtadyr.
According to Opendatabot, TOV “SOLMAR” was registered in 2020, the size of the authorized capital of UAH 1.155 million, the ultimate beneficiary Olga Kostetskaya. Income for 2021 UAH 5 million 398.8 thousand, net profit of UAH 42.5 thousand.
