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Poland, Hungary, Slovakia keep bans on Ukraine grains

Russia denies losing front-line village to Kyiv forces
REUTERS, Brussels
Poland, Slovakia and Hungary will impose their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports, the governments said on Friday, after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban affecting Ukraine’s five EU neighbours.
Restrictions imposed by the European Union in May allowed Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia to ban domestic sales of Ukrainian wheat, maize, rapeseed and sunflower seeds, while permitting transit of such cargoes for export elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Russia yesterday denied a Ukrainian claim to have recaptured the devastated eastern village of Andriivka, a stepping stone on the way to the town of Bakhmut.
“The enemy did not abandon plans to capture the city of Artyomovsk [Bakhmut] of the Donetsk People’s Republic and continued to conduct assault operations ... unsuccessfully trying to oust Russian troops from the population centres of Klishchiivka and Andriivka,” the Russian defence ministry said in its daily briefing.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield reports.
On Ukrainian grain, Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki said “We will extend this ban despite their disagreement, despite the European Commission’s disagreement,”. “We will do it because it is in the interest of the Polish farmer.”
Polish development minister Waldemar Buda said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that he had signed the Polish ban regulation, which would run for an indefinite period of time from midnight.
Hungary imposed a national import ban on 24 Ukrainian agricultural products, including grains, vegetables, several meat products and honey, according to a government decree published on Friday.
Slovakia’s agriculture minister followed suit announcing its own grain ban. All three bans only apply to domestic imports and do not affect transit to onward markets.
EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis said on Friday countries should refrain from unilateral measures against imports of Ukrainian grain. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said it would respond in a “civilised fashion” if EU members break the rules.
The EU created alternative land routes, so-called Solidarity Lanes, for Ukraine to use to export its grains and oilseeds after Russia, which invaded in 2022, backed out of a UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal in July that allowed safe passage for the cargo ships.
The EU Commission said existing measures would expire as originally planned on Friday after Ukraine agreed to introduce any legal measures (including, for example, an export licensing system) within 30 days to avoid grain surges.
“It has concluded that thanks to the work of the Coordination Platform and to the temporary measures introduced on 2 May 2023, the market distortions in the 5 Member States bordering Ukraine have disappeared,” the European Commission said in a statement.
“We will extend this ban despite their disagreement, despite the European Commission’s disagreement. We will do it because it is in the interest of the Polish farmer.”
-- Polish PM Mateusz Morawiecki