The Ukraine will file a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Poland, Hungary and Slovakia for their refusal to lift import bans on Ukrainian agricultural products, according to an interview of Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Agriculture and Trade Charge d’Affaires of Ukraine Taras Kaska published in Politico.

Taras Kaska said that Ukraine is also likely to impose countermeasures on Poland if Warsaw does not withdraw the additional measures it has taken.

“It is important to prove that these measures are legally wrong. And for this reason we will start legal proceedings tomorrow”the Ukrainian official said, warning that Kiev was preparing to respond by banning the import of fruits and vegetables from Poland.

The bans imposed by central European countries are aimed at protecting farmers from increased grain exports from Ukraine following Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

Especially the ruling party of Poland has an increased interest in stopping the flow of Ukrainian grain, if only to impress public opinion, in view of the October 15th elections that appear ambiguous and in which it absolutely needs the support of the rural electoral base.

The three central European countries rebelled against the European Commission, which decided on Friday to allow the sale of Ukrainian grain to the European Union, deciding in turn to impose their own bans. “In our eyes, these measures by Hungary and Poland are a statement of complete distrust of the European Commission,” Taras Kaska told Politico, adding that a “huge systemic problem” is being created that translates into the question of whether international trading partners can be trusted in the fact that the Commission does indeed represent the European Union.

“For many years, it has been the case that the European Commission is a trade negotiator and trade policy institution on behalf of the entire European Union…The systemic approach of Budapest and Warsaw ignoring the position of the European Union institutions in the field of trade policy I think it will be a problem for the European Union in general, because there is no unity here”explained.

Although Slovakia merely extended the previous ban on the import of Ukrainian products, Poland and Hungary decided to impose additional bans on new Ukrainian products. Especially the new Warsaw bans are expected to hit a significant part of Ukrainian exports.

Taras Kaska also explained that Kiev is ready “to take responsibility for ensuring that exports from Ukraine do not create a tsunami for neighboring countries” and that it intends to impose a “real-time” export licensing system for grain to slow down exports to neighboring countries and allow Ukraine to “react quickly” if a spike in exports is detected.