Kiev, Warsaw will continue agricultural trade negotiations on next week
MOSCOW. March 29 (Interfax) - The most difficult issue at the Ukrainian-Polish negotiations at the level of governments and agricultural associations in Poland was grain, with talks set to continue in a week, Ukrainian media reported, quoting Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Nikolai Solsky.
"The most difficult issue at the negotiations was grain. We proposed a licensing mechanism to the Polish side and explained how it works giving the example of Romania, with which we work according to such a procedure. That is, supply to Poland only to the extent and under the licenses to which they agree," he said. A video of Solsky's making his remarks was posted on YouTube.
He also mentioned the complexity of the discussion on the transit of agricultural goods through Poland.
"The absolute majority of Ukrainian and Polish participants [in the talks] were ready to announce agreements and lift the border blockade before Easter. But there were those who were categorically against this. So the talks will continue next week," the minister said.
He said the fact the meeting took place at all was an upside. Ukraine pushed for a very long time for a meeting with Polish associations of farmers who organized the protests, Solsky said.
He said the biggest achievement of the negotiations was the emergence of a joint Ukrainian-Polish vision of trade between European countries, including Poland and Ukraine, after June 5, when the updated procedure for duty-free trade between Ukraine and the EU begins to take effect, as well as the definition of "sensitive" products and their volumes.
He said the negotiations eased tensions around the supply of Ukrainian sugar to Europe. The parties have identified those responsible and will continue next week to work on mechanisms for "coexistence over the next two months." Similar agreements were reached on raspberries and juices. A meeting on this will take place on April 5. Representatives of Ukrainian and Polish honey associations immediately reached a decision on trade volumes following a brief discussion. The Polish side also dropped the issue of chicken meat and eggs following a discussion.
"As it turned out, what we were talking about, if we show the numbers and look each other in the eyes, it turns out that there is no problem. That's what happened. Everyone said there are no problems. The issues have been resolved," Solsky said.
The prime ministers of Ukraine and Poland, Denis Shmygal and Donald Tusk, discussed the problems with regulating the imports of Ukrainian food in Poland on March 28.
Many EU countries have seen widespread protests by agricultural producers this year expressing dissatisfaction with the European Commission's green policy and price rises for inputs against a backdrop of duty-free agricultural products coming from Ukraine. In particular, Polish farmers are also expressing discontent because in the current conditions it is difficult for them to compete with cheaper Ukrainian products, Western media report.