“Polish farmers have bought expensive tractors and are using them to block logistics arteries, thus holding local residents hostage,” former Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development and Trade Aivaras Abromavychus said in an interview. – Most ordinary Poles support Ukraine and criticize local farmers who have been living in comfortable conditions for 8 years thanks to state subsidies – noted the former politician and co-owner of Agro Region.
– Most ordinary Poles support Ukraine and criticize local farmers who have been living in comfortable conditions for 8 years thanks to state subsidies. For example, I did not find a single positive comment about the protesters in “Gazeta Wyborcza”, says Ukrainian ex-minister and agribusinessman Aivaras Abromavychus in an interview with Latifundist about agricultural blockades on the Polish side of the border.
The exminister on Polish protests
The former minister said that Polish business does not support the farmers protesting in Poland, because as a result of blockades at the border, companies lose money and some customers, who are Ukrainians. Abromavychus suggests that the protest organizers are using trade unions for their purposes, but “it is also completely clear that Russian money has some influence on the situation.”
-Protesters are blocking not only the transport of grain from Ukraine, but also economic life in Poland’s border areas. Someone has a cafe in this area, someone has a gas station, someone has a car service or a motel. Now this whole business is idle because traffic is paralyzed and there is no main category of customers – Ukrainians – argues the co-owner of AgroRegion.
In recent years, Polish farmers, taking advantage of rapidly rising grain prices, have bought expensive tractors and are now using them to block logistics arteries, thus holding local residents hostage – this is another broad statement made by the former minister.
Farmers have only themselves to blame?
The businessman and politician added that “the main reason for the protests was that Polish farmers left their maximum comfort zone” because in recent years they had become too “used to high grain prices.” The stereotypical thinking of farmers in Poland, Romania and Lithuania, which told them to delay the sale of grain until spring in the hope of higher prices, did not work because anomalies occurred on the world market.
The problem is that Polish farmers did not understand in time that wheat prices would not increase and it had to be sold, and now they blame Ukraine for all their problems. But in fact, this is a trend on the world market, with which Ukraine has nothing to do, says Aivaras Abromavychus in an interview.
Sales in the EU without profit?
The co-owner of Agro Region and the former Minister of Economic Development of Ukraine assures in an interview that it is not profitable for Ukrainian farmers to sell grain in Poland.
-I am sure that if grain prices finally stabilize on the world market, the number of problems with the transit and export of Ukrainian grain through the EU will also significantly reduce – says the politician-businessman. -It’s simple logistic arithmetic. The cost of transporting Ukrainian wheat or corn to Poland is at least $30-40 per tonne. Polish farmers do not have such expenses. This means that Ukrainian farmers, selling grain in Poland at market prices, do not actually make a profit.
The sale of grain to the EU is therefore, according to Latifundist’s interlocutor, a “temporary phenomenon”. Most Ukrainian exporters of agricultural products understand that they can only compete on world markets if they export by sea.
Abromavychus also expressed hope that the “grain wars” in Europe will be a clear signal for Ukrainian farmers to focus on rather niche industries with the EU market in mind: the sale of berries, nuts, chicken eggs and meat.
World-class quality
In an extensive interview, the ex-minister also commented on the allegations that the European market is flooded with low-quality grain.
When someone tells me about the low quality of Ukrainian grain, I reply: “Friends, we are already past this stage. Today we use the same equipment, personal protective equipment and seeds from leading global companies as European agricultural producers. And it is absolutely clear that the quality of our grain is also adequate, Abromavychus replied.
He added that his company has 500 hectares of seed crops in the Boryspol district, where it produces seed material for global brands, such as Monsanto, Corteva and others. This means that Ukrainian quality fully corresponds to European and world quality.
– .