Hungary says "yes" to transit and "no" to imports of Ukrainian grain, and intends to hold to this policy even after the European Commission ban expires on September 15, Ukrainian media reported, citing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban after a meeting in Bratislava between the prime ministers of the Visegrad Group of countries (Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic).
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ban said in a statement for the press after the meeting that the prime ministers share the concerns that grain from Ukraine causes in their countries.
They want this grain to be shipped out of Europe, but not end up in countries such as Hungary and destroy the local grain market.
Therefore, "yes" to transit and "no" to imports, Orban said, calling for the ban on Ukrainian grain imports to remain in place beyond mid-September.
The EU ban on imports of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower from Ukraine to Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria, whose agricultural sectors suffered more than other European countries from the flood of agricultural products from neighboring Ukraine, went into effect on May 2 and replaced unilateral import bonds imposed by these countries.
However, transit of these products through these countries is permitted. The ban was initially imposed until June 5, but then extended to September 15.
Farmers began to have problems with a glut of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products on the markets of Eastern European countries in the early months of 2023.
They were in large part triggered by the EU eliminating customs duties on imports of grain and oilseed crops from Ukraine. As a result, Ukrainian exports of agricultural products to neighboring countries surged.
Ukrainian products such as grain, sunflower seeds, poultry meat, eggs, sugar, apples and apple juice, berries, flour, honey and pasta products began to flood into countries bordering. ■
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