MEPs: more support for grain export at Polish-Ukrainian border needed

As issues with Ukraine’s grain exports persist, MEPs asked the Commission to grant financial support and insurance guarantees for the leasing of logistical equipment and staff in a letter obtained by EURACTIV.

A delegation of lawmakers from the European Parliament’s agriculture committee visited the Polish-Ukrainian border last week in a fact-finding mission, concluding that logistics and transport costs are among the key factors preventing increased exports.

According to the MEPs, this makes it impossible for Ukraine’s grains to reach their final destination. They wrote a letter calling for more action from the EU executive, addressed to Commission Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski, and Transport Commissioner Adina Vălean.

“Operators struggle to balance these costs with sale price of commodities, while buyers no longer make prepayments because of the uncertainty created by the war. We were thus able to observe that for now, very little Ukrainian wheat crosses the Polish border”, says the letter to the Commission, obtained by EURACTIV.

The mission hoped to see the border crossing system in action and identify the main bottlenecks by talking with key stakeholders.

But in fact, they visited just one control border post where a 7 km traffic jam of trucks was waiting on the Ukrainian side, a member of the Parliament’s delegation told EURACTIV.

“It is difficult to do a fact-finding mission where the main issue is not necessarily at the border, but it is more the whole chain”, the MEP continued.

These difficulties, in turn, increase prices for such exports tremendously, making the MEPs ask the Commission to “assess whether the EU or the World Food Programme could acquire Ukrainian wheat at fair price levels.”

They also pointed out issues with infrastructure interoperability as there were not enough people to reload grain from one train to another. The letter states that the “difference in rail gauge represents the main barrier to cross-border freight traffic.” 

The recommendations to the Commission feature an extension of transhipment facilities on both sides of the border as a matter of priority and speeded-up border controls.

MEPs also acknowledged that the increase in cross-border traffic resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian war could not be absorbed by existing infrastructure, whether in Ukraine or the neighbouring member states.

Ukraine's grain 'OPEC' – What is it and is it worth the price?

Ukraine is reviving Russia’s pipe dream of setting up an organization of gran exporting countries – but with Western partners. However, experts warn of potential negative consequences of a grain ‘OPEC’ with more clarification on its functioning needed.

Ukrainian wheat only through the EU

A main request of the European lawmakers is for investments in road and rail networks, storage facilities, and rolling stock.

Previously, the main route for Ukrainian grain exports was via seaports, accounting for around 90% of the available amount. The amount of monthly exported grains from Ukraine was about 4-5 million tons.

With the full-scale Russian invasion and the consequent seaport blockade, the grain is mainly redirected to railway and road systems that were not previously adapted for this purpose.

This causes major delays in exporting, logistics fractures and a significant increase in prices for the exported grains.

Another issue identified by the MEPs was that “the (still limited) quantities of Ukrainian grain that end up in Poland intensively compete with local production whose cost prices are up to 40% higher.”

This situation fuels fear and resentment among Polish farmers, making the MEPs request improved logistics, so the Commission ensures “that Ukrainian wheat only transits through the EU and is actually exported to its final destination in third countries – or, if need be, where necessary in the Union.”

The Commission introduced the so-called ‘solidarity lanes’ to increase grain exports by using all the possible routes and measures to ensure the grain leaves Ukraine.

As Ukraine’s agriculture Deputy Minister Markiyan Dmytrasevych pointed out in a recent interview with EURACTIV, such an initiative considers that it is almost impossible to reach the pre-war amounts of exports while seaports are not functioning.

At the same time, it has helped increase exports from 300 tons in March to around 1.7 million tons in May, with up to 2 million tons expected for the future.

At the moment, the main route for grain exports is through railway to seaports in other countries, with Romania and Poland being among key ones in the chain.

However, MEPs stressed that the ‘solidarity lanes’ initiative needs more attention and promotion among local stakeholders.

For this, the chair of Parliament’s agricultural committee, the German MEP Norbert Lins, suggested the creation of “a special envoy dedicated to dealing solely with Ukrainian grain exports and working in partnership with stakeholders on the ground within the Commission.”

EU’s ‘solidarity lanes’ will not ‘significantly’ help Ukraine export, says Ukrainian MP

The recently announced EU measures to help Ukraine export grain despite the Russian blockade of its seaports are not enough as they will be mostly based on the country’s obsolete railways, a Ukrainian lawmaker has told the European Parliament.

[Edited by Gerardo Fortuna/Alice Taylor]

Read more with Euractiv

G7 gear up to counter Putin’s use of 'hunger as weapon'

Ahead of a G7 summit this weekend, the German government gathered ministers from 40 countries in Berlin on Friday (24 June) to draw up strategies for global food security in the face of Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian ports.