The EU will step up checks on shippers' compliance with agreements when they take grain out of Ukraine, trying to address the concerns of protesting farmers and promote free trade that helps the entire bloc. European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean stated this in an interview with Reuters.
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Farmers are protesting across Europe over a number of complaints, including what they call unfair competition with side of Ukraine.
Many, especially in Ukraine's neighbors, say they have been hurt by EU moves to open “solidarity corridors”, waive customs duties and introduce other measures to help Kiev get its grain to market, aimed at helping Kiev get its grain onto the market. against the backdrop of the Russian invasion.
“Closing borders is never a good idea, especially borders with a neighbor who is in such need of communication. As long as the agreements are implemented properly, there should be no problems, and we are working to strengthen control over this implementation,” said the European Commissioner for Transport.
“In other words, we must make sure that carriers do not violate the agreements, which they can only carry out bilateral transactions that are eligible for transit,” Valean added.
She also noted that EU countries could also benefit from this trade. Exports by road to Ukraine from Poland, Romania and Slovakia increased by double digits, exceeding the growth of goods coming from Ukraine to these countries.
Ukraine has exported more than 64 million tons of grain, oilseeds and related products through the “solidarity corridors” since their creation in May 2022, Valean said.
According to her, three million transited in January alone tons of grain, of which about 2.04 million tons passed through Romania.
Grain arrives in Romania by road, rail and barges across the Danube River. While transit through Romania's Black Sea port of Constanta slowed in January, exports by road and rail to southern European countries picked up speed as a result of EU-funded investment in rail transport.
See also: Border blockade: Why Polish people are protesting farmers and what Ukrainians should do (video)
But transit across the Danube River remained the most relevant; no less than 1.2-1.5 million tons of grain and another 0.5-0.7 were transported in transit across the river every month million tons of other products, such as fuel, that went to Ukraine.
Recall
The “Ministry of Finance” wrote that on Friday, March 1, from 13:00, Polish farmers completely blocked the checkpoint “ Shegini.”
Since February 9, 2024, on the territory of Poland near the border with Ukraine, protests by farmers have been taking place on the roads leading to checkpoints.
The main demands of the protesters are a ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural products and Poland's refusal of the European Green Deal.
During this time, there were five cases of Ukrainian agricultural crops spilling out of freight cars on the tracks or from trucks onto the roads.
