Hungary Expects Ban on Ukrainian Grain Imports to Be Extended in September

BUDAPEST (Sputnik) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has spoken in favor of extending the EU ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural goods to European countries bordering Ukraine in order to ensure that excess grain does not harm local producers, his office said on Tuesday.

"We share the concerns that grain arriving from Ukraine is causing in our countries. We support grain from Ukraine going to destinations outside Europe, but we are not in favour of that grain staying here, for example in Hungary, and destroying the entire Hungarian grain market. Therefore 'yes' to transit, 'no' to import, and we continue to believe that this ban should be maintained from mid-September onward," Orban said at a Monday meeting of Visegrad Group heads of government, according to his office.

On April 15, Poland and Hungary said they were banning imports of Ukrainian agricultural products until June 30, citing the need to protect domestic farmers from the uncontrolled influx of cheap grain from Ukraine. Slovakia followed suit on April 17 and Bulgaria on April 19.

In response to an appeal by Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Slovakia to protect their producers from uncontrolled influx of cheap Ukrainian grain, the European Commission introduced a mechanism to regulate the imports. Starting May 2, wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds were allowed free circulation in all EU countries except those five, which, in turn, promised to lift their unilateral restrictions.

On June 5, the European Union extended until September 15 restrictions on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products to affected EU countries.