The measures put in place by the European Union to free Ukraine from its stocks have perverse effects. Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian cereal producers denounce unfair competition.
For several months, tons and tons of wheat, corn, rapeseed or sunflower have been invading the countries bordering Ukraine. Normally, these cereals are supposed to stop there before being sent elsewhere, in particular to North Africa and the Middle East to fight against food insecurity. But in reality, most remain stored on site. They accumulate in silos and destabilize markets. Result: prices fall and anger rises.
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In Poland, a few days ago, eggs were thrown in the face of the Minister of Agriculture, Henryk Kowalczyk. In Romania, the peasants announce a strike for Friday April 7 and further south, in Bulgaria, they have taken out the tractors to block the roads and prevent the Ukrainian cereals from entering. Slovakia and Hungary, to a lesser extent, are also affected by this wave of protest from the agricultural world.
Why do these cereals remain blocked? Because the “corridors of solidarity” put in place by the European Union to free Ukraine from its stocks have perverse effects that had not really been anticipated. These corridors are supposed to facilitate the evacuation of cereals – by road or by train – while a good part had remained blocked in the Black Sea, their usual export channel.
Absence of customs duties
Last May Brussels abolished – for one year – customs duties on the import of cereals into European territory. 25 million tonnes were able to get out and Central European buyers took full advantage of it: they suddenly showed much more interest in these low-priced cereals than in the harvests of local producers.
To align themselves, Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovak or Hungarian farmers have therefore been forced to lower their prices, sometimes even to sell at a lower price than last year. An untenable situation given the increase in energy and input prices. Most end up with their stocks on their hands. Governments are struggling to regain control of the situation.
How to get out of this situation ? With money: last Thursday, Brussels released more than 53 million euros from a crisis reserve of the common agricultural policy to support farmers and compensate for their losses. But the governments concerned asked for more money and the reinstatement of tariffs.
A little pro-Russian music
In Warsaw, the government also plans to release funds at the national level and above all a mechanism to guarantee the transit of cereals, their exit from the territory. The pressure from farmers is strong, after cereals, they fear to see cheaper fruit, eggs, poultry or dairy products arriving from Ukraine.
Finally, these tensions have another consequence: they fuel a little pro-Russian music that is already being heard in Hungary and Bulgaria.