Official: Brussels won’t help eastern EU producers impacted by Ukrainian grain imports

At a meeting of European Union agriculture ministers in Brussels, six eastern member states turned to the European Commission calling for measures aimed at protecting eastern European producers from the impact of rising Ukrainian grain imports, state secretary for agriculture Zsolt Feldman told MTI.

Hungary supported “freeing” the grain stuck in Ukraine, Feldman said, adding, however, that most of the grain was making its way to European countries and Ukraine’s neighbours, rather than north Africa or the Middle East.

Because the Ukrainian grain is on average 70 euros cheaper per tonne than the grain produced in Hungary and eastern Europe, Hungarian producers are unable to sell their own grain on either the domestic or their traditional export markets, he said.

Feldman said a fund the EC plans to set up would be important, but would not solve the market crisis.