​Ukraine “in a few hours” will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization regarding the ban on grain imports from this country to Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said, quoted by Bloomberg.

Kyiv also plans to respond with its own import bans on more products if similar restrictions are not lifted, and could target goods such as onions and apples from Poland and cars from Hungary, Kaczka said on Monday.

Also on Monday, the Minister of Agriculture of Spain, Luis Planas Puchades, said that a unilateral ban by any member state of the European Union on the import of Ukrainian grain looks illegal, but the European Commission should decide on this.

The European Commission announced on Friday that it will not extend the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain to the five EU countries neighboring Ukraine. In May, the European Union allowed five member states (Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia) to ban the sale of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds from Ukraine on their territory, provided that they do not impede transit. to other countries.

Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced they would impose their own restrictions on grain imports from Ukraine, their governments said on Friday, while Romania said it was awaiting action from Ukraine before deciding on appropriate measures to protect Romanian farmers.

Romanian farmers appealed to the government to ban the import of a number of agricultural products from Ukraine, following the example of Poland.

Cholaku announces a 30-day ban until Ukraine submits a licensing proposal

Prime Minister Marcel Cholaku announced Monday that he will ask the ministers of agriculture and the economy for a joint order to extend the ban on Ukrainian grain imports for 30 days, noting that he is awaiting a licensing proposal from the prime minister. of the Minister of Ukraine after the request of the European Commission to develop a licensing system for grain exports to EU countries. The head of the executive branch clarified that since the Commission decided not to extend the ban, not a single kilogram of wheat or anything else has been imported into Romania.

“First of all, on Saturday and Sunday I had a discussion with the Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Commission. You saw, the Commission asked to develop a licensing system for the export of grain to EU countries, which I and my colleague Victor Negrescu requested during the meeting with the President of the Commission,” said PSD President. after the party leadership meeting.

“The Prime Minister of Ukraine came with the same logic, saying that strict control will still be needed. Until now, since the Commission decided not to extend the ban, not a single kilogram of wheat or anything else has been imported into Romania, what will continue today, not that Çolak banned it or introduced it first – the ban by the minister or the government at customs . It was a gentleman’s agreement between me and the Prime Minister of Ukraine, which we both respected. There were no requests to export grain from Ukraine to Romania. Until this moment, most likely, today we are waiting, that is why the Prime Minister of Ukraine promised me that he will send me this license proposal for discussion. In the event that there are export requests for Romania, I will definitely ask the Minister of Agriculture, first of all, the Minister of Economy, because we are also talking about trade, to make a joint order 30 days before I clarify things so that the restriction is extended “, Marcel also told Cholak.

The Prime Minister showed that “there was an understanding that there would be no requests for exports on the territory of Romania.” “First of all, the Ukrainian side complied with this, and the second agreement was that during today’s day he will send me a project that we are discussing with the Commission and with us. We are talking about four products that are still prohibited,” said the head of the executive power.

Čolaku noted that currently, thanks to the special efforts of the Minister of Transport, we have reached 2.5 million tons of grain for transit through Romania per month.

“We cannot continue that 90% of transit takes place only by road transport. Romania had rapid investments through the Ministry of Transport, both in railways and in transit along the Danube,” Colacu said.

Bulgarian farmers blocked the customs office on the border with Romania

Hundreds of Bulgarian farmers are protesting on Monday at the Ruse-George and Vidin-Kalafat border checkpoints, where traffic is restricted, against the European Commission’s decision to lift the ban on the import of Ukrainian grain to five EU countries neighboring Ukraine. including Romania and Bulgaria.

According to the territorial inspection of the border police of Giurgiu, the Bulgarian authorities have announced that starting at 10:00 a.m. protest actions of Bulgarian grain producers will take place in the area of ​​the PTF Ruse-Giurgiu and Vidin-Kalafat.