"Our negotiations with representatives of the Ukrainian government went in this direction and these were proposals from the Ukrainian side, which, according to the fact that they said that 95% of trade and the flow of grain goes through the sea channel and the Danube river, that this is actually the implementation of the last agreements... so the transit must stop at zero. Let's hope that there will be no need for such a decision," the government official said.
The Polish minister also added that by banning transit unilaterally, it is possible to get a counter-mirror reaction from the Ukrainian side.
"We also have to remember that trade goes both ways. Poland is also an exporter of dairy products, so the other side may take retaliatory measures. That is why Polish milk producers and processors also spoke here," the government official said.
The European Union is currently considering amendments to the draft decision on extending the free trade regime with Ukraine, and may add wheat to the list of sensitive products whose volumes will be regulated. The list already includes poultry meat, sugar, honey, oats, corn, cereals, and honey.
Discussions on this matter were confirmed by the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine, Mykola Solskyi, who personally took part in the meeting of the Council of the EU on March 26. The European Union plans to determine the quotas based on the volumes of supplies that were in 2022-2023, but Poland and France propose to also take into account the pre-war year 2021.
On March 27, the ambassadors of the EU member states will try to approve an updated agreement, which provides for the continuation of trade liberalization measures for Ukraine for another year, that is, the abolition of tariffs and quotas, but with reservations that will allow the European Commission to stop the flow of certain categories of products to the European Union in case of distortions on market. Poland and France want to expand the list of goods, as well as add to the calculations that will be taken into account, the volumes of imports for the pre-war year 2021. But the majority of countries oppose it, defending the ability of Ukraine, which is so dependent on international aid, to independently fill its budget.
On March 25, the Polish government expressed hope that the transit of Ukrainian grain would end from April 1. Polish Minister of Development and Technology Krzysztof Hetman said this on Radio Lublin.
"I would also like to emphasize that with regard to grain, we hope - because we talked about it with the Ukrainian side - that even the transit, primarily of corn and wheat, will practically end after April 1," the Polish official emphasized.