Hungary planned to impose a temporary ban on imports of grain from Ukraine, the country’s Agriculture Minister Istvan Nagy said in a written statement late on Saturday.
Nagy explained that the government decided to "temporarily ban the import of grain, oil crops and some other agricultural products from Ukraine."
This step was due to the fact that the European Union failed to come up with serious measures to address the problem of very cheap Ukrainian grain that flooded European markets.
Nagy said the ban will last until June 30, 2023.
The minister noted that this step requires the protection of Hungarian farmers who are incurring losses due to the influx of cheap Ukrainian food.
In his words, Ukraine is using agricultural technologies, "which are no longer permitted in the EU" and allow it to cut costs and flood European markets with "large amounts of poultry, eggs and honey, in addition to grain and oil-bearing crops."
Under these conditions, Nagy highlighted that Central European farmers are "unable to sell their produce".
He expressed the hope that the EU leadership will find a long-term solution to the issue while the ban is in effect, that is, until June 30.
According to the Hungarian minister, his country expects the EU to ensure "fair market conditions for European agriculture". He assured that his government will always be on the side of local farmers and protect the national agricultural sector.
On Friday, six European countries, including Hungary and Poland, spoke in favour of creating a single European mechanism for purchasing Ukrainian grain and imposing tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural products.
A part of Ukrainian grain, mostly intended for deliveries to African countries, ends up in European countries that are used as a transit route.
Poland made a similar decision on Saturday, while Slovakia imposed a temporary ban on the processing and sales of Ukrainian grain on April 13.
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