THE President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen proposed today to release an additional sum of Rs 100 million euro to support the farmers her Eastern Europe which are most affected by the fall in the price of grain due to the war in Ukraine.

“We are now preparing to present a second package of financial support of 100 million euros (…) as part of a common European approach,” von der Leyen said in a letter to the leaders of the five most affected members (Poland, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria).

Earlier, a representative of the Commission, said that Brussels will take “precautionary measures”, as he described them, for certain categories of grains and oilseeds, in particular for wheat, corn, sunflower and canola.

Based on EU rules, the Union can restrict the import of products to some or all of its members, but allow their transit. Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis will discuss the plans later today with ministers from the five countries, as well as their Ukrainian counterparts.

Last month the EU approved a first package of 56.3 million euros to support the farmers of these countries, reminded Ursula von der Leyen.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the EU suspended customs ties for a year on all goods imported from Ukraine and moved to help Kiev export its grain stocks after the Black sea transit route was closed Sea. But instead of goods being transited, Ukraine’s neighboring countries saw wheat, sunflower seeds and maize from Ukraine pile up on their soil, which led to a drop in the price of local products. This fact has led some countries, such as Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and now Bulgaria, to ban imports of Ukrainian grain in order to protect their agricultural sector.