Agriculture Minister Petre Daea, who has been criticized for his response to the cheap grain scandal in Ukraine, asked his colleagues on Thursday, at a government meeting, not to leave him alone in this crisis: “Don’t leave me alone, brothers, because I have many weapons on me “. He claimed to have taken action “faster than at the front” to protect Romanian farmers.

At the beginning of the government meeting, Prime Minister Nicolae Chuke announced that the executive power will approve the decision to ensure mechanisms for the allocation of 10 million euros from the European Commission and 10 million euros from the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture for farmers, saying that within 15 days from the moment of publication in They will be able to submit their documents to the API to receive money in the official gazette.

Chuke said that solving the problems of farmers and food processors is on the Government’s agenda and that a solution must be found so that they do not suffer, and at the same time, Romania continues to support Ukraine.

Daea boasts of “faster than frontline” measures for Romanian farmers

Agriculture Minister Petre Daea then spoke to his government colleagues for more than 15 minutes about the measures he would take “faster than at the front” to protect Romanian farmers, saying he had “launched all the mechanisms to get out of the financial discomfort created by the impact of imports grain from Ukraine”.

He noted that he is now waiting for the European Commission’s consent to stop the import of some products from Ukraine, in particular flour and sorghum.

• “Farmers opposed us after measures taken by Poland. Hence the discomfort I felt as a minister. Romania’s agriculture receives annual financial support that provides 2.9 billion euros in direct payments to farmers, and approximately one billion are European funds that go to invest in Romania’s agriculture. This is a situation in which people know that all these measures must be coordinated and considered in terms of mutual support and joint efforts to protect our farmers and the assistance that we need to provide to Ukraine at this time. Of the 2.9 billion euros, 75% comes from the EU. (…)
• Speed ​​should be remembered, efforts should be appreciated. The Government and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy are always close to farmers. We are not late for a minute, even on the front line they don’t behave like that. We are in the negotiation period, we are expected to reach a consensus on the list of products that will be introduced into the legal device so that they can be prevented from being imported.
• The commission came out 4, we added corn and wheat flour. The list has expanded to 10 products processed by the Commission. Romania had a healthy position for the country and for the farmers.
• Today, in the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, four responsible ministries are working on the technical mechanism for providing transport. We expect a situation – when the entrances to the four states are closed, I expect that these grain imports will go to Romania. We will carry out a technical, quality check directly at the customs and control the transportation on the territory of Romania, which have other directions. They are working on the technical mechanism that I want to prepare today.”

“Do not leave me alone, brothers, for many children are upon me”

Daea asked the prime minister and ministers not to leave him “in the struggle” alone:

• “I ask for your support, dear colleagues, do not leave me alone in the struggle!” I can accept it, but…”
• “I guess you didn’t feel lonely until now. From now on, Mr. Minister, you will not be alone. We won’t let you,” replied Chuke.
• “Well, don’t leave me, brother, because many children are on me. Cheers, Mr. Prime Minister!” Daea answered.

When asked by the prime minister about the “working group on the strategy for the improvement of the production process, in the long term, for producers and farmers”, Daea gave an answer also in its title, talking about “mandolin” and “peace of mind”.

• “Working group, you know how to work. But if I do that because it’s a working group and he’s playing the mandolin and looking at the walls, I won’t have the necessary time and peace of mind,” replied Petre Daea, saying he was sometimes on the move to parliament when on television

Romania will seal and control vehicles with grain from Ukraine transiting through Romania, as well as carry out customs checks on all agri-food products coming from the neighboring country. On Wednesday, Minister of Agriculture Petre Daea handed over these measures to his Ukrainian colleague Mykola Solsky.

Thus, Romania does not prohibit either import or transit.

The discussion between the two ministers took place in the context of the fact that the European Union is preparing to introduce restrictions at the EU level on the import of grain from Ukraine as a result of decisions to ban imports by European states such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria.

After several Eastern European countries began to unilaterally suspend the import of Ukrainian grain, putting pressure on Brussels, the European Union is preparing to introduce European-wide restrictions on the import of grain from Ukraine.

The European Union is preparing 100 million euros in compensation for farmers in countries bordering Ukraine and plans to impose restrictions on the import of Ukrainian grain, a spokesman for the European Commission said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The European Commission, which oversees the trade policies of the 27 EU member states, will take what it called “precautionary measures” on certain categories of grains and oilseeds, including wheat, corn, sunflower seeds and canola.

According to the EU regulation, the European Union can restrict the import of products in the entire community block or in part of the block, while allowing transit.

In May 2022, the European Union suspended for one year tariffs on all products imported from Ukraine and arranged to allow it to export its grain stocks after the closure of sea routes through the Black Sea due to the Russian invasion. However, instead of simple transit, neighboring European countries have found that corn, wheat and sunflowers from Ukraine are piling up on their territory due to logistical problems, which has caused the prices of local products to fall, AFP notes.