Poland is investigating fraud in the supply of Ukrainian grain

The Polish Minister of Justice and Prosecutor General Zbigniew Zebro announced the creation of an investigation team to investigate the facts of fraud in the supply of Ukrainian grain. About it reported “RIA News”.

“I considered it necessary to create an investigation team that would interact with other services: customs, tax, internal security agency, police. This will be a broad group. We also want to interact with the veterinary and sanitary services,” Zebro said at a press conference.

According to the prosecutor, as part of the measures, fraud to the detriment of agricultural producers, fraud to the detriment of the state treasury and endangering life and health, as well as “fiscal crimes, for which in total they can face up to 10 years in prison,” will be investigated.

Fraud related to the import of grain poses a threat to the sovereignty and security of Poland in the food sector, said Zebro. He also blamed EU officials who, “realizing the consequences that border states, especially Poland, will experience,” approved the opening of the union’s borders and abolished duties on the import of products.

March 23 Polish Radio RMF reported about the protests of farmers in the city of Szczecin (Poland). They demanded a settlement of the issue of Ukrainian grain and a meeting with the prime minister of the republic, Mateusz Morawiecki, and the minister of agriculture, Henryk Kowalczyk. In December 2022, farmers submitted their ten demands to the Polish Ministry of Agriculture, including: the introduction of deposits for agricultural products imported from the East, increased control over supplies, the creation of a Guarantee Fund for affected farmers, etc. During the protests, the protesters said that none of this list was implemented by the government.

On March 31, the prime ministers of five Eastern European countries – Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia – turned to the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, with a request to intervene in the crisis caused by the influx of Ukrainian grain. Then the ministers said that in their countries there were problems with the development of excess grain in warehouses, which led to market destabilization.