Polish protesters have spilled about four tonnes of Ukrainian grain from two carriages on railway tracks in Poland, Ukraine’s Minister for Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov has said.
Around noon today (Tuesday, February 20), protesters spilled the grain on the tracks of the Medyka station at the border between Poland and Ukraine, according to the minister.
The Ukrainian grain was in transit to Germany, he said and added that nobody benefits from spoiled grain, and that “such ‘actions’ are a loss for everyone, except for [Russia]”.
Nationwide farmer protests in Poland continued today. The protests began to highlight the ongoing issue of imports from Ukraine, which have frequently drawn the ire of Polish farmers.
Polish farmer protests
Protesters have blocked transport on the border in recent days. Despite the suspension of the blockade by hauliers, the situation is becoming “more critical”, Ukraine’s Ministry for Infrastructure said.
In the face of ongoing and planned protests and blockades, the Polish Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development appealed to all protesting farmers to minimise their “burden on society”.
In a letter to farmers, Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Czeslaw Siekierski said that regulating agricultural trade with Ukraine is a priority for the ministry.
This includes the national ban on the import to Poland of cereals, rapeseed and sunflower, as well as certain processing products, such as wheat flour, meals, bran and cake, he said.
The ministry also seeks to reach a bilateral agreement with Ukraine to extend the scope of market protection to include other sensitive products, such as sugar, poultry, and eggs.
The ministry has been and still is in talks with the protesting farmers, according to the minister who added that the demands submitted by Polish farmers are:
- The need to simplify and reduce unreasonable requirements of the Green Deal;
- Limiting the excessive inflow of agri-food products from Ukraine;
- Improving the profitability of agricultural production.
The value of agri-food exports from Poland to Ukraine in 2023 amounted to €1.03 billion, while the value of imports from Ukraine is €1.69 billion, the minister said in the letter.
“Complete closure of the border may result in the suspension of Polish exports of agricultural goods to Ukraine, which may result in the elimination of many jobs,” the minister said.
The ministry is seeking increased additional financial assistance for farmers, including subsidies for cereals, subsidies for fertilisers and an increase in fuel subsidies, he said.
Polish EU Agriculture Commissioner, Janusz Wojciechowski recently met with protesting farmers in western Poland , saying that he is working on implementing their demands.
Ukrainian grain
“For two years, Ukrainian farmers have been harvesting grain in armour vests, under missile attacks and despite the danger of mines,” Minister Kubrakov said.
Last month, about 5% of all agricultural exports from Ukraine, or 0.37 million tonnes, transited through Poland. At the same time, in 2022 this figure stood at 1 million tonnes, he said.
Up to 90% of Ukrainian exports go through a corridor in the Black Sea, according to the minister who added that the world “depends on Ukrainian grain, especially in Africa and Asia”.
The deputy chair of the Ukrainian Agri Council (UAC), Denys Marchuk recently said that “unfortunately, it will not be possible to resolve the Polish-Ukrainian conflict in a month or two”.
“The stakes in the negotiations are high. The situation will not be resolved quickly. We will probably see negotiations throughout 2024,” the UAC deputy chair said.