The Polish Minister of Agriculture, the first political victim of the grain war in Eastern Europe

Protests due to the consequences of imports Ukrainian grain left on the farms of Polish farmers, made his first political victim this Wednesday. Is he Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development of Poland, Henryk Kowalczyk, who resigned in response to complaints from the primary sector. The minister himself admitted that the abolition of customs duties on imports Ukrainian grain This caused, as reported by Europa Press, a crisis at the national level for agricultural producers, who now feel at a disadvantage.

although Polish government Already at the end of March, he asked the EU to reintroduce tariffs, but it seems that this did not have a significant effect. Actually, European Comission announced a project to extend until June 2024 the abolition of taxes and quotas for cereals coming from a neighboring country. “The basic demands of (Polish) farmers will not be met European Comission“, he lamented. Namely, this is one of the issues that he discussed with the Spanish Minister of Agriculture, Luis Planas, last week.

Despite his resignation, Kowalczyk also took the opportunity to evaluate his administration in recent months and claimed that all the measures agreed at the “round table” were aimed at national agriculture and with the aim of benefiting Polish producers, the PAP agency reports.

“Solutions are underway that will facilitate the storage of grains, the construction of warehouses (…) and incentives for grains. A solution is being prepared for subsidizing means of transport when it comes to transporting grain to ports,” he defended.

The export of grain from Ukrainian ports was one of the main and practically the only agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine, which, with the mediation of the United Nations, last year managed to approve a plan to ship grain by sea via the Black Sea.