By Jo Harper
WARSAW (AA) – The leader of Poland’s main opposition party on Monday attacked the government’s ban on imports of Ukrainian grain, calling it a form of “prostitution.”
“This situation with Ukrainian grain and the whole method this has been handled, the chain of incompetence and greed, shows, as if through a lens, the whole method of governing, and basically the prostitution that we are dealing with in Poland,” Donald Tusk, head of the opposition Civic Platform (PO), told a meeting in Biala Podlaska, eastern Poland, a stronghold of ruling Law and Justice (PiS) voters.
The European Commission has rejected the bans introduced on Ukrainian grain imports, saying it is not up to individual member states to make the bloc’s trade policy.
Poland – and Hungary – announced similar moves on Saturday after complaints from local farmers who claim they are being undercut by cheaper Ukrainian grain coming into their markets.
Tusk added that the PiS had promised to "help Ukraine and starving African countries, using European money and European aid to organize the logistics. But the only effect they achieved was a very serious blow to the interests of Polish farmers, a conflict with the EU and – since yesterday – there has been talk of a conflict with Ukraine,” Tusk added.
Ukrainian economists on Monday called the ban on imports of Ukrainian grain into Poland a populist move.
"Poland has made an absolutely populist decision to temporarily limit the export of agricultural goods from Ukraine to/through Poland (including transit)," Alex Lissitsa, a leading specialist in agribusiness and food industry, wrote on Facebook.
“This decision is motivated solely by the pre-election desire to please local farmers and will in no way affect the increase in grain prices in Poland or on the market but it will cause significant damage to Ukraine. I'm sorry… there are no words.”
The majority of Ukrainian grain is still exported via the Black Sea, but Russia's war on Ukraine meant large quantities of the grain ended up in central Europe.
"Farmers usually save grain until the end of the marketing year to use the income to buy the necessary seeds and agrochemicals for the new sowing season. Ukrainian grain appeared, which is cheaper, and the Poles calculated that they would incur large losses. They reacted, turned to politicians and they introduced restrictions on imports of Ukrainian grain," Oleh Pendzyn, director of the Discussion Economic Club, said in a televised interview.
Ukraine’s Agricultural and Food Policy Minister Mykola Solski said negotiations in Poland with his colleagues from Poland, Romania, and Slovakia would take place tomorrow. "We are meeting tomorrow for lunch in Warsaw and we will inform everyone. In our opinion, the first step should be the opening of transit," he said.