Hungary and Romania plan to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine

The ban on the import of Ukrainian grain into five EU countries must be extended after September 15, said Hungarian Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy.

Nagy held talks with Romanian Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu in Bucharest, which he wrote on his Facebook page (owned by Meta, a company recognized as extremist and banned in Russia).

“We protect the interests of farmers, so we are forced to maintain the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain! <…> We agreed that restrictive measures regarding Ukrainian grain should be maintained after September 15,” the minister wrote.

Nagy believes the lockdown should be extended at least until the end of the year. He will also discuss this issue with his colleagues from Bulgaria and Slovakia.

In August, Polish Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Robert Telus statedthat Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia will demand that the European Commission extend until the end of this year the ban on grain imports from Ukraine, which is valid until September 15. The EC introduced restrictions on the import of Ukrainian grain into these countries in May and then extended them. The ban does not apply to the transit and export of grain to other EU countries.

In July, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia signed a declaration according to which the ban on grain imports from Ukraine will be extended after September 15. Telus then explained that the restriction on grain imports from Ukraine brought an “unexpected positive effect” in the form of an increase in transit volumes.