Posted on September, 19, 2023 at 08:26 am
Kyiv, on Monday (September 18) said it has filed lawsuits at the World Trade Organization (WTO) against European Union (EU) nations, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, over their ban on Ukrainian grain imports. This comes after Ukrainian officials said that they plan to sue the three neighbouring countries for going against the European Commission’s decision.
The three Central European countries went against the European Commission’s decision on Friday (Sep 15) which ended restrictions on Ukrainian grains after Poland and Hungary said that they will be implementing their own ban on imports.
The move has since prompted Ukraine to take legal action that officials in Kyiv said they would for nearly a week. Yulia Svyrydenko, first deputy prime minister and economy minister, said Ukraine sees these restrictions as a violation of the EU nations’ international obligations.
“It is crucially important for us to prove that individual member states cannot ban imports of Ukrainian goods,” said Svyrydenko, in a statement. She added, “That is why we are filing lawsuits against them.”
“At the same time, we hope that these countries will lift their restrictions and we will not have to settle the matter in courts for a long time,” said the deputy PM, adding that Ukrainian exporters “continue to suffer significant losses” over the bans.
The restrictions in question were imposed by the EU back in May, which allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian grains to protect their farmers who held the imports responsible for a drop in prices in local markets.
The dispute over Ukrainian grain imports has led to an awkward diplomatic spat between Kyiv and Warsaw, which is Ukraine’s staunchest ally against Russia. Even after Ukraine filed the lawsuit, Poland said that it would maintain the ban.
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“We maintain our position, we think it is correct, it results from an economic analysis and powers derived from EU and international law,” said government spokesman Piotr Mueller on Polsat News, as quoted by news agency AFP.
“A complaint before the WTO doesn’t impress us,” the Polish official added. Poland, whose ruling conservative Law and Justice party has sought to attract farmer voters for its campaign ahead of the upcoming elections, has previously said that the cheaper Ukrainian grain makes domestic production unprofitable.
Source: WION