European Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski holds an urgent meeting on Thursday (March 17) with the AGRI agriculture committee concerning the food situation caused by the Russian war in Ukraine. This topic has been added to the agenda of the previously scheduled regular committee meeting in Brussels.
MEPs will hear from Commissioner Wojciechowski how the situation in agricultural markets has developed following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The discussion serves as preparation for a plenary debate planned for next week. In that debate, EU politicians will discuss with the EU Council and the Commission an EU action plan for food security.
Next Monday, the first outlines of such an EU agri-action plan will also be discussed with the Agriculture and Food ministers of the 27 EU countries. Two weeks ago it became clear that some EU countries believe all restrictions on food production should be lifted. Earlier, the EU had already put together an action plan to rapidly reduce dependence on Russian Gazprom.
The expectation is that the war in Ukraine will have a significant impact on European agricultural markets as a result of prolonged import restrictions. Russia and Ukraine together account for more than 30% of global wheat trade, 32% of barley, 17% of maize, and more than 50% of sunflower oil, seeds, and meal.
More than 2.7 million Ukrainians have fled the war violence over the past three weeks and are seeking shelter in other countries. But Ukrainian farmers cannot leave their land; they continue producing food.
Many usual logistical chains have been disrupted by the war. Over the past two weeks, Ukrainian agricultural businesses have delivered food products to people in war zones and shared diesel with the military, it was reported in Kiev.
This year, sowing of the fields is expected to start somewhat later, given the long winter. It should begin in about a week in the southern regions. For the rest of Ukraine, after April 10. But not in all regions will farmers be able to simply go out to the fields.
The 2022 sowing campaign is expected to be the most difficult in the history of independent Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture. According to Taras Vysotsky, Vice Minister of Agricultural Policy of Ukraine, "Ukraine produces five times more than its own domestic consumption. At this moment, we have sufficient reserves of products for our consumption," he said.
To safeguard national food security, the Ukrainian government during the state of martial law has also banned or restricted the export of critical food commodities. This concerns wheat, buckwheat, meat, eggs, oil, and sugar. Ukraine also banned the export of mineral fertilizers.