Five EU countries are asking the European Commission to buy back Ukrainian grain that has accumulated in their warehouses

The leaders of five Central and Eastern European countries have called on the European Commission to take action in connection with the surplus of grain and other Ukrainian food that has accumulated in their warehouses.

Source. This was reported by Interfax-Ukraine with reference to the Associated Press.

"We call on the European Commission to explore the possibility of purchasing the accumulated grain from EU member states bordering Ukraine for humanitarian needs," reads the letter addressed to EC President Ursula von der Leyen on behalf of the prime ministers of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

"We also reiterate our call for financial support from the EU to accelerate the development of transport infrastructure (for grain exports)," it says.

Western media note that the problem for European farmers has arisen due to the influx of Ukrainian grain and other products that has been observed in recent months. In the countries bordering Ukraine, there is an oversupply of export goods such as grain, seeds, eggs, poultry, sugar, apples and apple juice, berries, flour, honey and pasta, which provokes an oversupply and, accordingly, negatively affects the prices of local producers.

Another problem is that such products remain on the shelves of these countries in excess and do not reach countries outside the EU that are ready to buy them.

The European Commission has previously stated that it intends to quickly launch a mechanism to help countries facing an oversupply of Ukrainian products.

Earlier it was reported that Eastern European countries are planning to call on the EC to develop mechanisms to help establish supervision over grain exports from Ukraine and avoid dumping prices that would harm local farmers.

Background. As a reminder, Poland and 4 other countries will demand the reintroduction of duties on Ukrainian grain imports.