Talks on increasing Ukrainian grain transit volumes through Poland are not underway, agriculture minister says

Poland does not support lifting its embargo on Ukrainian grain and does not plan to increase transit volumes, Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Stefan Krajewski said in an interview with RMF FM.

According to Krajewski, Ukrainian grain should be shipped to third countries rather than remain on the European market.

“This grain should leave and reach third-country markets, rather than remain in Europe and damage trade relations. If it is to transit through Poland, it must be under full control,” Krajewski said.

The minister stressed that he does not want to lift restrictions on imports of Ukrainian grain and has already discussed the issue with representatives of the European Commission.

He also said that no talks are currently underway on increasing the volume of Ukrainian grain transit through Poland.

“I have the ability and the willingness to help Ukraine, but not at the expense of Polish farmers and Polish processors. This is what I will be watching,” the Polish agriculture minister said.

Krajewski added that the capacity of Polish ports is primarily needed for Polish grain exports and therefore cannot be fully used for the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products.

At the same time, he said that if the European Commission insists on lifting Poland’s embargo on Ukrainian grain, it should propose other mechanisms to protect the domestic market. According to the minister, Poland, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria previously suffered the biggest losses from imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.