Romanian Farmers Warn Of Protests If Authorities Do Not Ban Transit And Import Of Grain From Ukraine

Romanian farmers ask the authorities to take all necessary legal and diplomatic measures to ban the transit and import of agricultural products from Ukraine between June 15, 2023 and March 15, 2024, otherwise a large-scale nationwide protest action will begin on June 7, which will end only after their request has been implemented.

This is reported by the Adevarul publication with reference to the Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

The Alliance for Agriculture and Cooperation notes that the country's agricultural market is highly distorted to the detriment of Romanian farmers, and in 2023, after the harvest, most agricultural producers will be forced to close their farms due to the high costs of growing agricultural crops, while the prospect of selling agricultural products at prices below cost, even under good production conditions, will not save them.

It is noted that the EUR 10 million allocated by the European Commission to Romania to mitigate the losses is a small amount.

"These funds can at most be redirected to the restoration of at least part of the road infrastructure damaged by the intensive transit of Ukrainian goods. The impact felt by farmers in Romania is difficult to assess today, because the entire economy of agricultural and agro-food products was directly and seriously affected," the alliance reports.

Farmers warn that if measures are not taken and the transit and import of agricultural products from Ukraine is not prohibited between June 15, 2023 and March 15, 2024, then a nationwide protest action will begin on June 7.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, Ukraine will refrain from exporting wheat, corn, sunflower and rapeseed to Poland until the new season.

Polish farmers are dissatisfied with the fact that prices for agricultural products are falling due to the import of grain from Ukraine.

Since the beginning of March, Polish farmers have protested against the import of Ukrainian grain to the country and threatened to disrupt the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to the country if their demands are not met.