Losses due to the Ukrainian grain import ban introduced by a number of European countries will be fairly large – Roman Slaston

The decisions of European countries to ban Ukraine grain imports will lead to significant losses and may have a great impact on this year’s sowing campaign.

Roman Slaston, Director General of the Ukrainian Agrarian Business Club Association, made the relevant statement during a briefing at Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform. 

“The losses are inevitable. Estimates have not yet been made as the situation remains quite unclear. Someone is still waiting for the possibility of transit, and therefore putting the business on hold, prefer not to turn the trucks or cars around, not to shuffle to other countries. But this whole situation definitely results in suffering losses. The ones are also due to production downtime. Many producers have already cleared Ukrainian customs but have not crossed the border with Poland. Such products are brought back, which are considered imports back to Ukraine, causing the need to pay VAT and other tax duties. Therefore, this rather poses a significant problem, and the losses will be quite large,” he said.

In addition, according to the expert, there are several negative trends in the Ukrainian grain market today. The fact that European country’s import ban falls at the peak of the sowing season, in particular. 

“Now, after long rains, farmers are planting crops en masse, and now they again do not understand what to do, whether to sow, if so what crops, whether they will need the products, and whether they will be able to export them,” he said.

Mr. Slaston also emphasized that the grain corridor is also facing difficulties. Namely, the russians are blocking the work of inspections.

“Since April 17-18, not a single inspection de facto has been carried out at the entrance and exit to Ukrainian ports. Today, negotiations are underway in Türkiye on possibly resuming at least 2-3 inspections per day. It is completely inconsistent with the capabilities and needs of our ports and the remaining volumes of grain. Nevertheless, this is a step to show our partners, the UN and Turkey, within the framework of the grain deal, that they also have influence and are fulfilling their obligations.”

Following the Polish government’s order to temporarily ban imports of grain and a number of other farm produce from Ukraine, the Hungarian government also banned the supply of Ukrainian grain, oilseeds, and “some other” agricultural products until June 30, 2023. Introducing similar bans is currently being discussed by the leaderships of Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia.

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