Ukrainian Farmers believe that the Protests in the EU over Grain are Political

The protests of European farmers are political and the supply of Ukrainian grain does not reduce the profitability of their business, said the union of Ukrainian food producers, quoted by "Reuters".

Logistical difficulties are keeping large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union, in central European countries, undercutting prices and sales for protesting farmers there, the agency noted.

Last week, Poland said it would temporarily halt imports of Ukrainian grain after farm protests led to the resignation of Poland's agriculture minister. Transit will continue to be permitted.

"The political nature of the European farmers' strikes is obvious. Ukraine sells some grain to Poland, and it is not a huge amount," Denis Marchuk, deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Council (UAC), said in a statement.

"However, certain forces feel the need to demonstrate that this is due to an oversupply of Ukrainian grain," he added, noting that the country faces elections later this year.

According to him, the drop in world prices of grain and oil crops is a trend and Ukraine uses Poland and Romania as transit routes instead of exporting directly to them.

Marchuk noted that Poland's import ban could affect Ukrainian farmers in the western regions, as they traditionally sell to consumers in Poland and farms still have up to 40% of last year's harvest that they plan to sell and use for the planting season.

Grain production in Ukraine, a major producer and exporter, is likely to have fallen to around 53 million tonnes in the calendar year of 2022 from a record 86 million tonnes in 2021, with officials blaming hostilities in the east, north and south regions of the country...