Ukraine will challenge in court ban on import of its agricultural products by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia

Ukraine will sue Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over their refusal to lift the ban on Ukrainian agricultural products.

Deputy Minister of Economy - trade representative Taras Kachka said this in an interview with Politico, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

"It is important to prove that these actions are legally illegitimate. That is why we will start the court proceedings tomorrow," Kachka said.

At the same time, according to him, Ukraine is preparing to take retaliatory measures against Polish exports of fruits and vegetables.

Kachka said the open defiance of Brussels by Poland, Hungary and Slovakia was not just an internal EU matter, but raised what he called the "biggest systemic problem" - whether international trading partners can trust what Brussels says on behalf of the EU.

"For many years, it is the European Commission that is the mediator in trade negotiations and the institution of trade policy for the whole EU. And we used to work on this basis. The systematic approach of Budapest and Warsaw to ignore the position of EU institutions in trade policy, I think, will be a problem for the EU in general, because there is no unity," Kachka said.

Ukraine plans to file a lawsuit within the World Trade Organization.

"I think the whole world should see how EU member states behave in relation to trade partners and their union, because it can affect other states as well," Kachka said.

According to him, if Slovakia simply continued the previous EU ban on four types of grain, Poland introduced additional bans on Ukrainian flour and fodder over the weekend.

At the same time, Hungary bans another 25 products that were not previously discussed, including meat.

"Although Hungary's additional bans are largely symbolic, given that Ukraine does not export much beef and pork to the country, Poland's measures will affect a significant portion of Ukrainian exports. If Warsaw does not lift these additional bans, we will be forced to take retaliatory measures and ban imports fruits and vegetables from Poland... The Polish ban will not help farmers, it will not affect prices, because prices are global - what they do is based on public opinion," Kachka said.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on September 15, the European Commission announced the termination of restrictions on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine.

At the same time, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia unilaterally declared that they will continue the ban on the import of grain from Ukraine, despite the decision of the European Commission to cancel it.

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