Romanian farmers’ organizations are demanding an extension of the ban on grain imports from Ukraine and threatening a blockade

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In their open letter addressed to the leaders of the country, published by the Romanian newspapers on Tuesday, they point out that Romania, together with Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia, made extraordinary concessions in order to support the Ukrainian farmers affected by the war and to preserve the food security of the world, but the agricultural products exported from Ukraine 95 percent remained in the European Union, causing serious market disturbances. According to them, Romania has made huge sacrifices by assisting the import and transit of 65 percent of Ukrainian agricultural products arriving in the European Union, and as a result 45 percent of Romanian farmers have become insolvent, as the purchase price of cereals and oil crops has fallen so much that they do not know about the previous sowing pay off your debts.

According to the farmers, the promised inspections were not carried out amid the “force” to increase the transit volume

Thus, if they really increase the amount of Ukrainian agricultural products passing through the country from the current 2 to 4 million tons per month, without extending the import restrictions, it will result in the bankruptcy of many Romanian farmers, because the prices will be so depressed that they will not be able to sell their crops

. The four host organizations that signed the open letter addressed to the Romanian head of state, prime minister, the president of the European Commission, the EU agricultural commissioner, the members of the Bucharest government and the Romanian MEPs demand that the EU import restrictions on Ukrainian agricultural products be extended until the end of the war. restore the customs rules valid on January 1, 2022, tighten controls on the blocking and routing of shipments from Ukraine. If no decision is reached at the EU level to extend the ban on grain imports, the Romanian farmers’ organizations demand that the government in Bucharest take unilateral measures along the lines of Hungary and Poland. If their demands are not met, the majority of Romanian agricultural producers will stop work and blockade the (Constanța) port and all border crossings in the country – concludes the open letter of the Romanian farmers’ organizations.

MTI