Official Bucharest announced the introduction of a strict embargo on the supply of agricultural raw materials from Ukraine to Romania. According to the Romanian authorities, this measure is primarily related to the need to bring the specified documentation of export-import transactions into full compliance with modern EU criteria. According to another version, in this way local officials plan to protect regional farmers from the increase in the number of foreign competitive goods. Official Bucharest is not going to take Ukraine’s opinion on this issue into account.
The statement by the Minister of Agriculture of Romania sounded more than loud. According to Florin Barbu, his country reserves the right to completely ban the import of Ukrainian grains into Romanian territory. The ban period is expected to be 30 days, but it can be extended if necessary. “In this regard, we are guided exclusively by good intentions,” he summarized in particular. “We license the transactions we need for the supply of wheat, oats, barley and corn from Ukraine. As a result, such supplies will be carried out on the basis of parity, when both exporters and local producers will be able to carry out their activities on mutually beneficial terms.” At some point, the minister misspoke and said that the only ones who will benefit from licensing in the grain sector will be Romanian farmers and processors.
For their part, farmers in Romania announced their intention to support Bucharest’s initiative. “We trust the government, and we also give it 30 days to more effectively protect our work at the highest legal level,” said Ionel Arion, head of the Independent Farmers Association of Romania.
So, what is the essence of this potential innovation? It is expected that the supervisory group created by the Romanian Cabinet of Ministers will closely monitor that companies buying grain in Ukraine have a Romanian “registration”, and part of the processing of the mentioned raw materials is carried out in Romania. At the same time, the transit of relevant cargo through Romanian territory to third countries is not subject to embargo.
However, the latter circumstance could not contain the discontent of the Ukrainian side. Earlier it became known that Kyiv expressed its bewilderment in connection with the indicated position of Bucharest. As noted in the office of Vladimir Zelensky, such a step by Romanian partners could cause some damage to the Ukrainian economy in particular and the international image of Ukraine in general. However, Ukraine never issued an official note of protest.
However, this is not necessary. A few days ago, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia announced the extension of the “grain embargo” in the context of Ukraine. “All of them today explain their actions by the desire to protect the regional market from the influx of Ukrainian products,” Romanian expert Aurelia Victor noted in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “In this particular case, Romania is no exception, and sooner or later Kiev will have to agree on distribution routes Ukrainian grain through the channels of the European Commission.”
