By Athena Papakosta

Ukraine appealed to the World Trade Organization against Poland, Slovakia and Hungary for imposing bans on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products.

Kiev states that these bans are a violation of international obligations by these three Member States of the European Union. Ukraine’s Economy Minister Yulia Svirydenko said in a written statement on Monday that “it is very important to prove that individual Member States cannot impose bans on Ukrainian goods.”

Poland stressed that it will stand by its decision. A representative of the Polish government emphasized that “we believe that our position is correct. It arises after economic analysis and powers deriving from European and international law”. He added that “the recourse to the World Trade Organization does not impress us”.

Last Friday the European Commission decided not to extend the ban on grain imports from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The relevant ban was decided earlier this year and was aimed at protecting farmers from increasing Ukrainian grain exports.

Bulgaria and Romania have already announced that they are resuming imports. However, farmers in these two countries are protesting the decision of their national governments.

In particular, hundreds of farmers in Bulgaria took to the streets with their tractors waving flags and honking horns. They blocked off central roads and stopped the movement of other vehicles.

As they say, the protests will not stop if their demands are not met. A few hours ago, the country’s National Federation of Grain Producers warned that farmers in Bulgaria are facing difficulties by demanding a ban on a list of products from Ukraine such as wheat, sunflower, corn, canola as well as fruits, vegetables, milk, honey and other dairy products.

The ministers of agriculture of the European Union met, yesterday, Monday and called for unity.

Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement allowing the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea once again made the more expensive road, rail and river routes the only routes for the export of Ukrainian grain.

Finland’s agriculture minister stressed that “we must face the challenges with respect for the rules of the internal market and the rules of international trade” and according to the EU, Ukraine agrees to introduce measures to control exports, such as a system authorization within 30 days in order to avoid grain surpluses in Europe.