Romania tries to settle grain crisis without banning imports from Ukraine

Romania will monitor more closely the transfer of grains coming from Ukraine and passing the country by sealing off the trucks and running tests for compliance with the EU standards on entry (rather than at the destination), the Ministry of Agriculture announced after consultations held by minister Petre Daea with his counterpart in Kyiv, Mikola Solski.

Romania also asked Ukrainian officials to seek solutions for restricting grain and oilseed exports to Romania, which as of now, remain unrestricted from the Romanian side.

The Romanian ministry also informed about the request made by the agriculture ministers of the five member states (Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia) to the European Commission for the amendment of Regulation 870/2022 so as to ensure the transit corridor to third countries, without affecting the farmers in the border states.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced her intention to provide an additional EUR 100 mln aid to Central and Eastern European states affected by Ukrainian grain exports, including Romania, officials in Brussels said, quoted by Ziarul Financiar.

The losses estimated by the farmers in the five countries reached EUR 417 mln, while the European Commission offered so far EUR 56.3 mln of compensations, out of which EUR 10 mln to Romania – an amount that minister Daea has promised to double with money from the state budget. The Romanian farmers estimate losses in the amount of EUR 200 mln.

The ministries of Romania and Ukraine agreed to have a tete-a-tete meeting on Friday, April 21, in Bucharest to quickly put into practice the best solutions for both parties.

(Photo source: Stefan Dinse | Dreamstime.com)