BUDAPEST, April 16. /TASS/. The government of Hungary resolved to impose a temporary ban on imports of grain from Ukraine, the country’s Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said in a written statement late on Saturday.
In his words, the government decided to "temporarily prohibit imports of grain, oil-bearing crops and some other agricultural products from Ukraine." The move was due to the fact that the European Union has failed to come up with serious measures to address the problem of extremely cheap Ukrainian grain that flooded European markets.
Nagy said the ban will be in place until June 30, 2023.
The minister explained the move by the need to protect Hungarian farmers, who sustain losses due to an inflow of cheap Ukrainian foodstuffs. In his words, Ukraine is using agricultural technologies, "which are no longer permitted in the EU" and allow it to cut costs and flood European markets with "large amounts of poultry, eggs and honey, in addition to grain and oil-bearing crops."
Under these circumstances, Central European farmers "are unable to sell their products," Nagy said.
He expressed hope that the European Union leadership will find a long-term solution to the issue while the ban is in place, that is until June 30.
Hungary expects the European Union to ensure "fair market conditions for European agriculture," Nagy said. He assured that his government will always be on the side of domestic farmers and will protect the national agricultural sector.
On Friday, six European countries, including Hungary and Poland, spoke in favor of creating a single European mechanism for purchases of Ukrainian grain and for imposing customs duties on Ukrainian agriculture products. A part of Ukrainian grain, intended mostly for delivery to African nations, ends up in European countries that are used as a transit route.
Poland made a similar decision on Saturday, while Slovakia imposed a temporary ban on processing and sales of Ukrainian grain on April 13.