This was stated by the spokesperson of the European Commission Stefan de Keersmaeker during a briefing today in Brussels. reports Ukrinform's own correspondent.
"This work continues. "Corridors of solidarity" remain an absolutely important element in order to facilitate the transportation of these goods... Since May 2022, 102 million tons have been exported (from Ukraine - ed.), of which 56 million tons are agricultural products. We have indicators for September: 4.2 million tons of agricultural exports," he said.
For his part, the spokesperson of the European Commission on Agriculture and Trade, Olof Gill, did not name the date of the next meeting of the Coordination Platform on solving the problem of agricultural exports from Ukraine to five neighboring EU states - Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania - and did not comment on the state of negotiations with the governments of Poland and Hungary, which continue to ban Ukrainian agricultural exports to their own markets.
"For now, the position remains unchanged. Ukraine continues to implement its action plan to solve the problems that arose in the summer. We expect this to provide more sustainable solutions in the medium and longer term. Regarding the two countries, there is currently no additional information. A new government is being formed in Poland. Our contacts with all member countries continue. This will be discussed during the next meeting of the Coordinating Platform, which will take place soon," Gill noted.
As reported, in May 2022, the EU launched "solidarity corridors" on the borders with Ukraine, which allowed Ukraine to continue its own grain exports to the world market in the face of Russia's blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports. In July of this year, Russia stopped its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was launched thanks to the efforts of the UN and Turkey, after which the EU's "solidarity corridors" through the land and internal water transport arteries of Europe remained almost the only opportunity for Ukraine to continue export-import operations.
In May 2023, the European Commission banned the import of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower from Ukraine to Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Romania at the insistence of these countries. On June 5, the ban was extended until September 15, 2023. After this date, the European Commission announced that the European Union will not extend temporary restrictions on Ukrainian grain exports to five neighboring countries. Poland and Hungary announced their intention to block the import of Ukrainian agricultural products in the future.