Slovakia to suspend grain imports from Ukraine – The Guardian

"Slovakia will temporarily halt imports of grains and other selected products from Ukraine, a government spokesperson said on Monday," the report said.

Reuters reports that this week representatives of Eurean Union member states in Brussels will discuss the decision of Pand and Hungary to ban imports of grain and other food products from Ukraine, said a senior EU official on Monday. The official added that Slovakia and Romania raised this issue at the last summit of EU leaders.

"We expect Pand and Hungary to offer some explanation and there will also be reaction by the Eurean Commision. There is an issue and we expect the Commission to come up with a prosal on that… We'll see what we can do in the coming weeks and months," the official said on condition of anonymity.

On Monday, Minister of Agrarian Picy and Food of Ukraine Myka Sskyi stated that Kyiv wants to resume the transit of food and grain through Pand as a first step during talks in Warsaw.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, Hungary flowed Pand in temporarily banning imports of grain and oilseeds from Ukraine.

Over the past few months, Pish farmers have been hding massive protests against the transportation of Ukrainian agricultural products through Pand to third countries. They emphasized that a significant portion of Ukrainian grain is not transported in transit but settles in Pand, thereby reducing the purchase prices in Pand for grain from Pish farmers. Under pressure from farmers, the Pish government appealed to the Eurean Commission to abish the zero duty on Ukrainian agricultural products. However, the Eurean Commission did not fulfill the main demand of Pish farmers to impose duties on Ukrainian agricultural goods and extended the agreement on duty-free imports from Ukraine for another year, until June 5, 2024.

On April 5, Pand's previous Minister of Agriculture Henryk Kowalczyk resigned amid the crisis with Ukrainian grain. He was replaced by Robert Telus, who on the same day convened an interagency crisis headquarters to address the problem of the influx of Ukrainian grain into the Pish market.

During his official visit to Pand on April 5, President of Ukraine Vodymyr Zelensky discussed this issue with Prime Minister of Pand Mateusz Morawiecki. Afterward, during a media briefing, he said that the problem would be resved soon.

During a meeting on April 7 at the border with his Pish counterpart Telus, Ukraine's Minister of Agrarian Picy and Food Sskyi said that Ukraine would suspend exports of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower to Pand until the new season.

The Eurean Commission considers the unilateral trade decisions of Pand and Hungary, which banned imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products, unacceptable.