Agrounia blocks the entry of Ukrainian grain. “We are satisfied only with the restoration of the tariff”

Duty-free circulation of Ukrainian grain was introduced by the European Union last year to support Ukrainian food producers and prevent starvation in African countries, which were the main grain importers from Ukraine and Russia before the war. However, this caused a drop in grain prices and problems for Polish farmers, who had been coming to Hrubieszow since Wednesday morning to prevent the import of grain from Ukraine to Poland and express their dissatisfaction. According to Michal Kolodziejczak, the police do not let them into the place of the strike.

Will Ukrainian grain sink Polish farmers?

“Today it must be clearly stated that the matter with the influx of Ukrainian grain is very serious and the only way out of this situation is the restoration of the duty. We are not interested in any other solutions, says the leader of Agrounia.

And he recalls that Agrounia was the first to sound the alarm about Ukrainian grain on June 29, 2022. “We expected this because we can be trusted, but then we heard that they were trying to find the problem by force,” adds Kolodziejczak.

Agrounia will protest for a week

Farmers from Agronia are launching a 7-day protest because they say they no longer believe the assurances of new agriculture minister Robert Telus. Last week, the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture met with his Ukrainian counterpart Mykola Solsky. As he assured after the meeting, the inflow of Ukrainian grain will be suspended until the start of the new season. Only transit will be allowed. However, while these assurances are based on an oral agreement, the document has not yet been signed. On Tuesday, Minister Telus also met with Polish farmers, but no compromise was reached.

“Here, no one has done anything to overcome the crisis. We came here for specific information, for specific documents. There is none of them. It was one big farce. Let the minister get down to work, because this is his job, and not to tell strange stories, summed up Michal Kolodzeychak.

Kolodzeychak: Ukrainian grain can be bought cheaper than ours

The leader of Agrounia argues that the assurances of the Minister of Agriculture are simply empty, because even if the grain goes through Poland to other EU countries duty-free, Polish farmers will still lose.

- We are not satisfied with this: the fact that Ukrainian grain will pass duty-free through Poland to Germany and be unloaded there, and not here, it will still be in the European Union and our native grain will not be competitive. They will be cheaper than ours. Our existing contractors will not choose our products, but will buy them from Ukrainian or Russian oligarchs. This is not a solution to the problem - Michal Kolodziejczak is indignant. – Here it is necessary to appeal to the mind of those in power so that the pressure on the European Union is much greater than it is now.

The leader of Agrounia emphasizes that the re-introduction of duties on Ukrainian grain is necessary, otherwise Polish farmers will find themselves in a catastrophic situation. - Today, Polish diplomacy, our politicians should act on this issue, and not wait for who knows what. This will lead to drama. I don’t think we know what the problem is.

The new minister won’t change anything

Michal Kolodziejczak also mentioned the appointment of a new Minister of Agriculture in an interview with Wprost. – I do not think that this will change anything and improve the situation of Polish farmers. It is difficult to say whether he will be a better minister than Henryk Kowalczyk, but after the behavior on Tuesday, it is not clear that he will surpass him. If this minister does not work like his predecessors, he will be dismissed like the previous ones. Let the minister get to work, because there is a lot to do. Explaining to farmers that there is a problem will not solve the problem, he says.