Slovakia, following Poland and Hungary, has become the third country to temporarily suspend imports of grain and other food from Ukraine.
The Prime Minister of the country Eduard Heger announced this on Facebook.
"Slovakia will temporarily suspend imports of grain and other selected products from Ukraine. A working group will meet on this issue today. The results will be published," Heger wrote.
According to the Slovak media outlet Pravda, the European Commission has called unilateral trade measures by EU member states unacceptable.
It is emphasized that farmers in Slovakia cannot compete with imports of cheap Ukrainian grain. The decision to stop imports was made in order to protect their profits and business. The Ministry of Agriculture of Slovakia added that it "has exhausted all legal and competent possibilities to regulate imports from Ukraine while maintaining solidarity corridors."
Initially, the corridors were to be used for grain exports to third countries. However, large volumes of grain ended up in EU warehouses. The newspaper stated that Ukrainian grain destabilizes the market in the bloc's member states.
"In addition, stricter measures should be introduced at the government level to regulate imports of goods from Ukraine," the ministry said.
Poland and Hungary have also temporarily banned imports of Ukrainian grain. Bulgaria also spoke about a possible ban.
It is noted that Poland has decided to ban imports of Ukrainian grain and other agricultural products until June 30.
Background. Meanwhile, it has been reported that the EU will discuss Poland and Hungary's ban on grain imports from Ukraine this week.