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Five EU countries continue to ban Ukrainian grain. Illustrative photo. (Source: Reuters) |
The 27-member bloc will gradually remove special and temporary preventive measures on Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, the EC said.
The EU's move allows these five countries to ban the sale of the above Ukrainian products domestically, but they can still transit them for export elsewhere, including to other EU countries.
The EC said the bans were imposed on May 2 due to “product transport bottlenecks” in the five countries. The bans were due to expire on June 12, but the five countries argued that cheaper Ukrainian grain was making their domestic production unprofitable, so they sought an extension.
“These measures will remain necessary for some time due to severe bottlenecks in the transport of products and limited storage capacity for cereals ahead of the harvest in five Member States,” the EC said.
Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have complained about cheap Ukrainian grain causing their own agricultural production to suffer. However, Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds will still be freely sold to countries remaining in the bloc.
To support Ukraine in its conflict with Russia, the EU has allowed unlimited imports of all goods from the country. Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have become transit routes for Ukraine's grain, which is sitting in large stocks due to the inability to export through Black Sea ports.
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