Ukraine says Poland’s farmer subsidies not in line with WTO rules

The subsidies that Poland has given its farmers in response to a surge in grains exports from Ukraine are not in line with World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said on Monday.

“These subsidies go far beyond what is allowed by WTO rules. (They) may be a minor development but can be a source of (trade) disturbances around the globe,” Kachka told an International Grains Council (IGC) conference in London.

The Polish government approved subsidies earlier this year to help its farmers compete with a glut of grains from Ukraine that had built up in Poland and other eastern European countries.

Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have become alternative transit routes for Ukrainian grain to help offset slowed exports via the country’s Black Sea ports following Russia’s invasion in February 2022.