Slovakia wants to extend ban on Ukrainian grain

Slovakia will probably extend the ban on the import of agricultural commodities from Ukraine. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Richard Takáč (Smer-SD) also negotiated bilaterally with European Commissioner for Agriculture Janusz Wojciechowski. The Slovak ban applies until the end of the year to four commodities - wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds.

Slovakia fully supports the transit of agricultural commodities from Ukraine to third countries through solidarity corridors. However, the reality is that a significant part of these commodities remains on the common EU market and thus represents price competition for Slovak farmers exporting cereals to the EU, Takac explained. "In Slovakia, we grow cereals on approx. 500,000 hectares of land, i.e. about a third of the total farmed territory of the Slovak Republic, and it is important for us to maintain this level of cereal production. The loss of these growers would cause the collapse of the Slovak agricultural sector," he added.

Eurocommissioner Wojciechowski said that he is attentive to the problems of the Slovak agricultural sector, but he does not consider the unilateral measures that Slovakia plans to be ideal. However, he is ready to look for a constructive pan-European solution in the matter of imports.

(TASR)