Radio România Internațional

Tag: grain export

  • Discontent over Ukrainian grains

    Discontent over Ukrainian grains

    Heated talks were triggered in the latest European Parliament session by the issue of Ukrainian grain exports. The European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, the Polish Janusz Wojciechowski, stated that, in his opinion, the European Commission should extend the temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports in five EU neighboring states, given that the measure contributed to increasing exports outside the bloc



    The Romanian MEP Dacian Cioloş asked the members of the Commission to wake up to reality and appoint a special coordinator of the Union for the export of Ukrainian grains, to ensure that the shipments only transit the neighboring countries and are not sold there. The Union was not able to come up with a common decision, and Russia’s strategy of using food as a weapon to increase its political influence in the world is intolerable, he pointed out. The most vocal were, however, the Polish MEPs, who demanded serious measures to protect farmers in their country.



    Ukraine has become completely dependent on alternative EU routes for its grain exports after Russia pulled out in July from a one-year deal that allowed Ukrainian grain to be transported safely through the Black Sea ports, now attacked by Moscow. As a result, farmers in neighboring states – Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia – have been faced with increased competition and serious blockages in their own markets. Thus, there is pressure to extend the ban, which would expire on Friday. The European executive announced, in May, temporary preventive measures that would ban grain sales in these five states, while allowing transit through their territory to markets outside the EU, mainly Africa.



    The Commission has allocated €156 million in compensation to affected EU farmers and raised almost €1.9 billion to improve alternative routes. Over 60% of Ukrainian grain transiting the EU passes through Romania, where farmers’ associations have threatened protests if the ban is lifted. The Romanian Minister of Agriculture, Florin Barbu, suggested to the Commission to establish a system of subsidies for the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products outside the bloc. In his opinion, the restrictive measures had a positive effect on the grain market in Romania. The war in Ukraine forced local farmers to export grain at any price. However, their costs are much lower because they are exempt from customs duties, thus leading to unfair competition. (MI)




  • Romanian support for Ukraine

    Romanian support for Ukraine

    As a neighbouring state, Romania continues to support Ukraine, in the context of the war launched by the Russian Federation against it. Attending in Brussels summit of the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, the Romanian head of state, Klaus Iohannis, confirmed that Romania will start trainings next month for the Ukrainian pilots who will learn how to fly F-16 fighters. Bucharest thus joins other NATO allies, which have already started this type of training. According to the president, this process will be a long one.



    Bucharest is interested not only in the start of training, but also in a good result in the training of Ukrainian pilots, Klaus Iohannis also said:


    It is a process that is important to us and is important to maintain it. We do not train pilots from August to September. It starts at the end of this summer and it’s going to be a long-term project. My interest is to have a well-prepared, solid project with very efficient instructors and to run, here, a successful project for the Romanian Army.



    On the other hand, Klaus Iohannis has announced that half of the Ukrainian grains have been exported through Romania, and this process will continue. He made these clarifications against the background of the Russian Federation announcing its exit from the Agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine through the Black Sea.It is regrettable that the initiative, for which many politicians from all over the world were involved, does not seem to have a bright future, said the Romanian president. We believe that it is important and good to be on the side of Ukraine and to support these exports. We will keep doing it in order to prevent discontinuity, the head of state pointed out. The agreement that had guaranteed the export for the pst year expired on Monday at midnight, the deadline set when it was last renewed for two months, in May. Moscow refused to extend the agreement, signed last year, in July, with Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations and Turkey, denouncing the obstacles in the trade with Russian agricultural products. The last ship carrying grain was inspected on Monday evening in Istanbul.



    Despite the war, the agreement allowed the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain and agricultural products, which are important for ensuring world food security. A consequence of the expiration of this agreement is the significant increase in the price of wheat. Analysts are of the opinion that this will force Ukraine to export the 2023 crop on alternative routes to river ports and towards the European Union borders, given the high logistics costs. (MI)