The Government of Slovakia, by its special order, extended the ban on the import of Ukrainian agricultural raw materials into the country. As Bratislava notes, this is due to the need to protect the interests of local farmers and stimulate the development of their own market. Independent experts are inclined to believe that this time we may be talking about a “planned unfriendly act against Kyiv.”
According to a statement released yesterday by the Ministry of Agriculture of Slovakia, the specified restrictions on the import of wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower will be automatically extended for another six months. Moreover, barley, honey, wheat flour and sugar beets have been added to the so-called “black lists”. According to some reports, the Slovak Cabinet of Ministers is considering the possibility of further expanding the mentioned list.
According to Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, since the introduction of “prohibited” measures in May of this year, the country has provided orders to more than two thousand regional farming enterprises, and this practice of stimulation has fully justified itself. They say that in this way Bretislava, to a certain extent, managed to bring the local agricultural industry out of the worsening crisis. It is expected that the continued use of such a system will literally enrich the Slovak manufacturer.
At the same time, this could result in new problems for Ukraine. “It’s no secret that deliveries to Slovakia made up a significant part of Ukrainian exports of raw materials,” European market analyst Aurelia Victor stated in a commentary for EURO-ATLANTIC UKRAINE. “Accordingly, Kiev is now losing millions of US dollars. In the case of Bratislava, a peculiar “Domino principle”: earlier Poland and Romania announced the extension of sanctions on agricultural products and raw materials from Ukraine, and Hungary made such restrictions indefinite. It is difficult to say what this means for the devastated Ukrainian economy in the future.”
Official Kyiv has not yet responded to Bratislava’s current actions. It is expected that in the near future the Ukrainian side will raise the issue of the appropriateness of the sanctions schemes at the next meeting of the European Commission.
