There will be a meeting with the Ukrainian side on Monday; We want to establish bilateral rules related to the flow of goods, including agricultural products, said the Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierski, on Friday in Kielce. We have some permission for this from the European Commission, he added.
– We are in one common market, in a globalized world, as a result of, among others, very aggressive commercial policy of Russia, which has become a large grain producer. It entered world markets with huge grain production and lowered prices so that it was practically selling the grain for half of the price. This has caused grain prices on world markets and stock exchanges to be very low and continue to fall, Siekierski said.
He added that this is also “the result of the war that Russia is waging in terms of trade.”
Russia has pushed the European Union, including Poland, and Ukraine, out of certain markets. All this influenced the problem of profitability and profitability of agricultural production – noted the minister.
Poland-Ukraine meeting on Monday
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture announced that on Monday there will be a meeting with the Ukrainian side, in which Krzysztof Hetman, the Minister of Development and Technology, will also participate. – We want to establish bilateral rules related to the flow of goods, including agricultural products. We have certain permission for this from the European Commission, said Siekierski.
I said, “it is possible, after the first talks, to introduce quotas, quotas, export licenses from the Ukrainian side, and permits to accept goods from the Polish side.”
We also need to significantly strengthen the transit system so that it does not have gaps, because I cannot imagine closing the borders – emphasized the Minister of Agriculture.
He added that the European Union must prepare certain regulations to ensure that excess grain is directed to world markets where there is demand for it. He noted that it is possible.
What’s next for the Green Deal?
It has been greatly simplified. Requirements to limit the use of pesticides have been removed, banking rules have been simplified, and fallowing has been simplified. However, we make it clear that we do not want it to operate globally in 2024, and in the future we want it to be voluntary in the following years, as part of a certain scheme for which farmers would receive money – said Siekierski. He added that the Green Deal must be made, as farmers say, an agricultural order.
Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski, advisor to the President of the Republic of Poland for agriculture, referring to the agricultural protests, emphasized that “these protests are a cry of despair against the destruction and limitation of European agriculture.”
– Often, under the guise of pro-ecological activities, which are only a smokescreen, large international capital wants to take over the food market. It’s about who will decide about the food market, who will make money from it and who will gain enormous power. Because whoever has food, energy and, in most of the world, water, rules, said the former Minister of Agriculture. He added that in order to control this food market, farmers must be eliminated.
– We cannot agree to this. Farmers understand progress, the need for investment, and they are diligent students. They understand their role and fulfill it perfectly. But whether agriculture survives or goes the way of destroying agriculture as we know it is not up to farmers. That’s why I respect the protesting farmers very much. Poland must decisively try to implement a common-sense policy towards agriculture, emphasized Ardanowski.
