Ministry: Slovakia considers Ukraine's grain import plan acceptable, talks continue

Slovakia is studying Ukraine's proposed plan to export agricultural products and considers it acceptable, the Ukrainian Agriculture Ministry said on Sept. 20 following an online meeting between Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi and his Slovak counterpart Jozef Bíreš.

The two parties reportedly discussed cooperation in the agricultural sector, namely the action plan for exporting Ukrainian agricultural products proposed by Kyiv to the European Commission.

According to the ministry's press statement, Bíreš said that Bratislava is studying Ukraine's proposal and considers it acceptable.

The ministers agreed to finalize the plan as soon as possible, as well as coordinate the situation and maintain constructive relations between the countries.

The EU instituted the import ban on select agricultural products from Ukraine in May at the request of Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, and Bulgaria, who feared that the influx of cheaper Ukrainian products would put pressure on their farmers.

Following the expiration of the measure on Sept. 15, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary said they will continue to impose it on the national level.

Seeking to lift the restrictions, Ukraine proposed to the EU that it would implement a system of permits to manage the export of grain.

The Slovak agriculture minister said earlier that Kyiv's proposal came too late and suggested that the European Commission could institute a transition period to test the mechanism.

Read also: Media: Kyiv denies grain proposal rejected by 5 EU members

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