Polish agricultural organizations believe that better agreements need to be made with Ukraine and the European Union regarding the easing of Ukrainian grain exports. We must ensure that subsidized Ukrainian grain, intended for markets in Africa and the Middle East, does not end up on European markets, Polish grain traders said.
Polish businesses held talks earlier this week with a delegation from the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee, which conducted a working visit to five Polish-Ukrainian border crossings.
Besides the increasing military aid to Ukraine, food security is now the most urgent issue. We need to discuss how to prevent a food crisis near the European Union, said delegation leader Norbert Lins, chairman of the European Parliament's Agriculture Committee.
One of the most urgent tasks is organizing efficient exports from Ukraine. The process must not disrupt the Polish and European markets, and grain transport must continue to markets in the Middle East and Africa, the MEPs also said after a press conference in the Polish city of Rzeszów. We do not want the European market to be flooded with cheaper grain from Ukraine.
The trade in grain on the Polish domestic grain market is currently very unstable, with considerable discrepancies between the prices offered by buyers and the rates expected by sellers, the Polish Grain and Feed Chamber reported.
Viktor Szmulewicz, chairman of the National Council of Polish Agricultural Chambers, has already asked Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to intervene. To prevent congestion at the Ukraine-Poland border, several problems need to be resolved.
Lithuanian ports, such as Klaipeda, are ready to handle Ukrainian grain and its further transport, but infrastructure improvements are also needed at the Poland-Lithuania border.