Hungary signals national ban on Ukrainian grain imports beyond Sept 15

Hungary has agreed with Romania, Slovakia and Bulgaria to impose bans on Ukrainian grain imports to protect their markets if the EU does not extend a ban that expires on Sept. 15, Hungary’s farm minister said on Wednesday.

However, Bulgarian Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov told the Bulgarian state news agency before the start of a government meeting that waiving the ban on imports from Ukraine would be desirable as it would reduce the prices of basic foods.

“Let us be clear – the resumption of imports from Ukraine will reduce the prices of basic foods, reduce inflation, which will help low-income people, and increase the budget revenues from imports and exports,” Denkov was quoted as saying.

On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee adopted a draft decision for Bulgaria to lift the ban on Ukrainian imports of certain products after Sept. 15. The final decision is to be taken in the plenary session of parliament.

Ukraine has become entirely dependent on alternative European Union routes, called Solidarity Lanes, for its grain exports after Russia in July abandoned a deal that had allowed Ukrainian grains to be shipped safely via its Black Sea ports.

As a result, farmers in neighbouring states – Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia – have faced increased competition and bottlenecks in their own markets.

Russia has said it will only return to the Black Sea grain deal if its conditions for export of its own grain and fertilisers are met.

Hungarian Minister of Agriculture Istvan Nagy said in a Facebook (NASDAQ:META) post that this new national ban would apply to a wider range of Ukrainian products than the current measures.

“We have agreed with my Romanian, Slovak and Bulgarian colleagues that if there is no decision on the extension of the existing moratorium by Brussels, then we will take national measures individually,” Nagy said in a video message.

Poland and Hungary have said they would unilaterally continue with the ban if the Commission does not extend it.

The European Commission announced “temporary preventive measures” in May that would ban sales into Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia while allowing transit to non-EU markets, mainly in Africa. These measures are due to expire on Friday.

The EU agriculture commissioner said on Tuesday he believes the European Commission should extend its temporary ban on Ukraine imports into these five states as the measure helped boost exports outside the bloc.