WARSAW, Jul 18 Poland will not open its market for Ukrainian grain after the termination of the «grain deal», Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki told reporters in Brussels.
Polish television broadcasts Morawiecki's speech.
“We will probably be very tough when it comes to protecting the Polish market. I have been drawing the attention of the European Commission to the need to build infrastructure for a long time,” Morawiecki said, answering a question about the consequences of the termination of the “grain deal” «.
«This is a task for the European Commission, for the American administration to develop appropriate mechanisms for the export of Ukrainian grain. We can play a constructive role, but we will not be forced to open our market to the detriment of the interests of the Polish farmer,» he added Polish Prime Minister.
At the same time, he noted that Poland is ready to ensure the transit of Ukrainian grain.
“We are doing everything in our power. If we are talking about transit, then we will help the European Union here, help in resolving this big problem – a global problem , as we are talking about the threat of famine. At the same time, we stand on the position that this can in no way lead to further destabilization of Polish agricultural markets,» Morawiecki said.
UN data show that the main recipients of Ukrainian agricultural products under the grain deal were the EU countries, which accounted for 38% of all deliveries.
China received the largest share — 7.96 million tons, or almost a quarter of all deliveries . This is followed by Spain, Türkiye, Italy and the Netherlands. In addition to them, only Egypt and Bangladesh received more than 1 million tons.
The top 20 recipients of Ukrainian agricultural products also include Portugal, Belgium, Germany, France and Romania, while the EU accounts for 12.4 million tons of products, or 38% of all supplies under the grain deal.
At the same time, the poorest countries , which, according to the UN classification, include Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia, for the entire duration of the deal accounted for 768.6 thousand tons of agricultural products, or 2.3%
The joint coordination center completed on Monday the inspection of the last vessel within the grain deal.
The Black Sea Initiative, which was signed on July 22, 2022 by representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN, involved the export of Ukrainian grain and food, as well as fertilizers across the Black Sea from three ports, including Odessa. The Joint Coordination Center in Istanbul was in charge of coordinating the movement of ships. Putin has repeatedly pointed out earlier that the West exported most of the Ukrainian grain to their states, and the main goal of the deal — the supply of grain to countries in need, including African ones — was never implemented.
The grain initiative was an integral part of the package agreement. The second part — the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years — provided for the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers; other measures. As noted in Moscow, this part of the package agreement was not implemented.
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