Ukraine should remember that it receives help from Poland, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Tuesday amid an increasingly heated dispute between the two countries over the import of agricultural products, News.ro reported with reference to Reuters.

Although Poland remains a staunch supporter of Ukraine in the face of the Russian invasion, the two countries have been at loggerheads over Poland’s recent extension of a ban on Ukrainian grain imports, which Warsaw says is necessary to protect farmers. Kyiv retaliated and threatened to appeal to the arbitration courts of the World Trade Organization.

“It would be good if Ukraine remembers that it receives help from us, and remembers that we are also a transit country for Ukraine,” President Andrzej Duda told reporters in New York after speaking before the UN General Assembly.

Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on the sale of Ukrainian grain to Ukraine’s five EU neighbors, which also include Romania and Bulgaria. The ban came after those countries woke up to a flood of cheap imports from Ukraine as Kyiv tried to ship the grain further afield.

While Ukraine called for “constructive dialogue” on Tuesday, a spokesman for the World Trade Organization (WTO) confirmed that Kyiv had taken the first step in the trade dispute by filing a complaint with the world trade body.

President Duda said that if Ukraine files a complaint, Poland will explain the situation to the court. He emphasized that the ban concerns the import, not the transit, of Ukrainian grain.

“There are business circles that have interests in Ukraine and want to sell grain as soon as possible at the lowest possible price. We have to protect ourselves against that,” he said. “I would liken it to something like a drowning person… A drowning person is extremely dangerous because it can pull in the depth… It can just drown that person , who saves her,” he emphasized. the Polish president.

At the same time, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Denys Shmigal, confirmed that Kyiv will impose import restrictions – in response – on certain categories of goods from Poland and Hungary, if they do not cancel unilateral bans. Meanwhile, Ukraine is investigating to prove that the unilateral bans are discriminatory, he said.

Shmigal explained that Kyiv proposed an export control plan for four groups of agricultural products to the European Commission and neighboring countries to prevent market distortions, a plan he called a compromise scenario. “We once again appeal to our neighbors to abandon harmful and illegal restrictions, political populism, and embark on the path of constructive dialogue that actually benefits everyone,” he said.

Ukraine approved the introduction of export licenses

Signaling its intention to move forward with a compromise proposal, the Ukrainian government on Tuesday approved the introduction of export licenses for a number of agricultural products for export to five of Ukraine’s EU neighbors.

“The Government of Ukraine has approved a new procedure for the export of certain types of products to certain EU countries,” the Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement. “This provides that four crops – corn, rapeseed, sunflower seeds, wheat, which are exported to 5 countries of the world – must receive a license from the Ministry of Economy with the approval of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy,” the document explains.

The ministry noted that Kyiv will coordinate the list and volumes of products with the importing countries, which, in turn, will determine whether they are ready to accept these goods, in what quantities and in what time frame. “Only then will we issue permits to our enterprises to export certain products. Ukraine controls its exports and coordinates them with destination countries,” he added.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has disrupted Kyiv’s ability to export agricultural products through Black Sea ports, leading to a surge in shipments by road, rail and barge across five neighboring European Union countries. Farmers in those countries said the supplies were distorting local markets, prompting the EU to approve trade restrictions while allowing transit until September 15. Last Friday, the EU did not extend those restrictions, but Warsaw, Bratislava and Budapest announced their own import restrictions.

On Monday, Spain’s agriculture minister, whose country holds the EU Council presidency, said the bans appeared illegal, while his French counterpart said they called European solidarity into question.

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