Suspicions that Ukrainian grain coming from Poland to Lithuania is re-exported to Poland as Lithuanian product seem unfounded, Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Kestutis Navickas said.
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"Narrowing the whole topic to the grain carousel, that which Lithuania is accused of - and by the way, this accusation has also been brought against Germany - the question gradually arises on the one hand, is this or would it be considered smuggling?
"In any case, this is an illegal act, and there would be signs of it, but neither we nor the Polish side see these signs," the minister said in an interview with the Lithuanian National Radio and Television Company.
In addition, the Lithuanian authorities, together with the Polish side, want to check whether the amount of grain transported from Ukraine through Poland to Lithuania corresponds to official data, he said.
"Yesterday I agreed with the Polish minister on two things: we now have a direct channel for exchanging information about what is happening, and something else; we have also requested assistance from the Ukrainian-Polish border with the number of declared cargo shipments to Lithuania and we will compare these with our own data," Navickas said.
With the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine, some Russian agricultural products were replaced by Ukrainian ones, so more Ukrainian carriers are passing through the country, he said.
In an interview with radio station Ziniu radijas, Advisor to the President of Lithuania Jarek Neverovich said that last year, up to 40,000 tonnes of wheat were shipped from Ukraine to Lithuania.
"This is a drop in the bucket compared to what Lithuania itself grows. We must take into account that this is a very small amount," Neverovich said.
SEB Bank economist Tadas Povilauskas said that Ukrainian grain transported to Lithuania is less than 1% of the volume of the Lithuanian wheat harvest.
"We can count it; at least four grain trucks transporting wheat cross Lithuania, then eight are carrying corn; it's normal that they are visible. But this is 30,000 tonnes of wheat compared to the harvest for Lithuanian consumption and export; it is less than one percent of the total; small numbers," the economist said.
Polish farmers are preparing two new blockades starting March 1: one at the former Polish-German border checkpoint in the town of Swiecie and another on the road at the former Lithuanian-Polish border checkpoint of Kalwaria-Budzisko.
The blockade is planned to last about one week. Farmers will check the contents of trucks, especially agricultural cargo.
A nationwide farmers' strike started on February 9 in Poland. The main demands of the strikers were an adjustment to the European Commission's "green" course, which limits the flow of Ukrainian agricultural products to the Polish market, as well as an increase in the profitability of agricultural production.
The protests will last 30 days, during which farmers intend to block all Ukrainian-Polish border crossings and transport hubs. ■
A very active and complex mid-May weather pattern is set to produce numerous areas of severe weather, heavy rain, high winds, and anomalous temperatures through this weekend.