Hungary has cancelled its requirement that grain from Ukraine should be transited within seven days, replacing it with a period of up to 15 days, Ukrainian media said, citing the Ukrainian Railways' report on the situation at crossing points on Ukraine's western border.
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A total of 57.35 railroad cars with Ukrainian grain are currently passing through the Hungarian border crossings per day, it said. As many as 658 cars with grain, 164 with sunflower oil and another 38 with seed meal are waiting to cross the border at the Batiyevo-Eperjeske checkpoint, it said.
Hungary permitted only transit under its government's decision, while the EU's decision has not been enacted, Ukrainian Railways said. The RCH and MMV carriers issued instructions with regard to cargo handling procedures.
As reported, Hungary's MMV carrier was not accepting 213 railroad cars with Ukrainian sunflower oil, as it was awaiting the availability of 1,435-mm cars in its territory and guarantees from transshipment terminals that they would be able to complete all necessary work within the seven-day period.
The main problem facing transit via Hungary was the strict timeline for transit shipments by rail, Ukrainian Railways said.
The current maximum term was seven days, and a fine equivalent to 100% of the cost of transited grain had to be paid if this term was exceeded. That rule discouraged transit companies, especially if there was a need to reload grain on its way to Europe.
Earlier, the European Commission banned the import of wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seed from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia from May 2 to June 5, 2023.
These "exceptional and temporary preventive measures" are necessary as storage facilities are overfilled and as there are logistics bottlenecks in these five EU member states. The transit via these five countries to the rest of the EU or other countries will continue. ■
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