Polish truckers, later joined by farmers, have blocked border crossings with Ukraine since late autumn last year amid concerns over unfair competition and cheap grain.

They have cited government inaction over a loss of business to foreign competitors since Russia’s war on Ukraine, with truckers from Ukraine exempt from seeking permits to cross the Polish border.

Ukraine’s border guard spokesman said Polish farmers had ended the blockade at the Rava-Ruska crossing on Monday morning.

“Fortunately, we have all directions on the border with Poland unblocked,” said Andriy Demchenko, the border official, adding that trucks were crossing in both directions.

Polish border guard spokesman Andrzej Juzwiak told Reuters that all the crossings were working “without hindrance”.

The Polish farm ministry said late on Sunday that farmers had announced a suspension following talks with Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Siekierski.

Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solsky hailed “constructive work” by Poland, saying negotiations with Warsaw and industry associations had not been easy but that “the main thing is that we have a result”.

Warsaw protest to go ahead

It was not clear if the suspension would hold.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Poland Vasyl Zvarych said he believed the blockades were “a thing of the past”.

But Polish news agency PAP cited Roman Kondrow, the leader of Podkarpacka Oszukana Wies, a local farmers’ organization in the region bordering Ukraine, as saying that protests could be resumed if necessary.

Adrian Wawrzyniak, a spokesperson for the Solidarity farmers’ union, told Reuters the farmers were continuing talks with the government and still planned a protest in Warsaw on May 10.

Trucks from Ukraine transporting grain products, the central issue that has angered Polish protesters, will still face some restrictions, the Ukrainian Border Service said.

“At the same time, trucks transporting grain crops will not be allowed to enter Poland. This type of cargo can only travel through Poland in transit mode,” the service said.

In an attempt to address the protesters’ demands, Poland decided earlier this month to pay 2.1 billion zlotys (C$710.2 million) in subsidies to farmers to compensate them for low grain prices.

The protests drew sharp criticism from Ukrainian decision makers as the tensions on the border escalated in the winter.

Warsaw and Kyiv have been engaged in talks at different levels to try to find a solution, with Ukraine calling upon the European Union to intervene. Kyiv said its agricultural exports through eastern Europe have not damaged EU markets.

In March, Ukraine and Poland hailed progress on agricultural import talks but the deal remained elusive as the countries tried to close the gap between their positions on economic and security interests.

—Reporting for Reuters by Anastasiia Malenko, Yuliia Dysa, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk

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Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports from Ukraine on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on sales into Ukraine’s five EU neighbours, which also include Romania and Bulgaria.

The Polish, Slovak and Hungarian governments said their actions sought to protect farmers from a surge of grain and food imports from Ukraine since its invasion by Russia last year.

A World Trade Organization spokesperson confirmed that Ukraine had taken the first step in a trade dispute by filing a complaint to the global trade body.

“We can confirm that a request for consultations was received Monday evening. Further information will be provided once the request has been circulated to our members,” the spokesperson said in an email addressed to Reuters.

He did not name the countries although Kyiv had previously said the complaint targeted Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal later spelled out Kyiv’s position in comments on the Telegram messaging app.

He confirmed that Kyiv would impose retaliatory import restrictions on certain categories of goods from Poland and Hungary if they did not lift their unilateral bans. Ukraine, meanwhile, is conducting an investigation to show that the unilateral bans are discriminatory, he said.

Shmyhal said Kyiv had proposed to the European Commission, the EU executive, and neighbouring countries an export control plan on four groups of farm products to prevent market distortions — a plan he described as a compromise scenario.

“We once again call on our neighbours to abandon harmful and illegal restrictions, political populism and embark on the path of constructive dialogue, from which everyone will actually benefit,” he said.

‘Helping the world’

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who is attending U.N. meetings in New York, said he told the Sustainable Development Goals summit that Ukraine’s exports were “helping the world be more stable and stronger.”

Polish President Andrzej Duda, also in New York, told reporters: “It would be good for Ukraine to remember that it receives help from us and to remember that we are also a transit country to Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s Trade Representative, Taras Kachka, told national television that Kyiv strictly sought the removal of the bans.

“We want to see Polish farmers develop, we want to see Ukrainian farmers develop…Each has their own situation and a great many problems,” Kachka said.

“Poland banned imports. So you have to understand our actions are a reaction. We have been in talks with them for half a year in different situations.”

Signalling its intention to move forward with the compromise proposal on Tuesday, the Ukrainian government approved the introduction of export licences for a number of agricultural products for export to Ukraine’s five EU neighbours.

“The government of Ukraine approved a new procedure for exporting certain types of products to certain EU member states,” the agriculture ministry said in a statement.

“It stipulates that four crops — corn, rapeseed, sunflower seed, wheat, which are exported to five countries — must be licensed by the economy ministry in agreement with agriculture ministry.”

The ministry said Kyiv would agree on the list and volume of products with importing countries, which would determine whether they are ready to accept these goods.

“Only then do we issue permits to our companies to export certain products. Ukraine controls its exports and coordinates them with the receiving countries,” it added.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has disrupted Kyiv’s ability to export farm products through its ports, leading to a surge in shipments via road, rail and barge through its five neighbours.

— Reporting for Reuters by Pavel Polityuk and Yuliia Dysa; additional reporting by Emma Farge and Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva, and by Anna Pruchnicka.

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Poland, Slovakia and Hungary announced restrictions on imports on Friday after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban on sales into Ukraine’s five EU neighbours, which also include Romania and Bulgaria.

Ukraine retaliated by filing complaints Monday with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, while other EU members condemned the unilateral moves.

Spain’s agriculture minister on Monday said the bans seemed illegal while his French counterpart said they called European solidarity into question.

Poland, with a parliamentary election looming in October, distanced itself even further and withdrew from a co-ordination platform — a group including the five neighbours, Ukraine and the European Commission — that has been looking at solutions to boost Ukraine grain transit to global markets.

“We have to look forward, since Ukraine said it wants to sue Poland… every comment we would have made on this platform could be used against us,” Poland Agriculture Minister Robert Telus told reporters in Brussels.

For much of the last year, some 60 per cent of Ukrainian grain has transited through the five EU countries using so-called Solidarity Lanes as an alternative to the Black Sea due to Russian threats.

Like most countries in central and eastern Europe, Poland and Slovakia have been some of Kyiv’s strongest allies in its fight against Russia’s invasion that began in February 2022. Hungary’s stance has been more ambivalent, as the only member of the EU and NATO alliance to maintain close relations with Moscow, still the main source of its oil and natural gas.

But grain exports have been an area of friction throughout the region.

Exports disrupted

Ukraine’s war with Russia has disrupted its ability to export agricultural products through its Black Sea ports, leading to a surge in shipments via road, rail and barge through its five EU neighbours.

Farmers in those countries protested these shipments were distorting local markets, leading the EU to approve trade restrictions — while still allowing transit — until Sept. 15.

Spain’s agriculture minister Luis Planas Puchades said it was up to the European Commission to judge whether the unilateral bans have broken any laws, but said the measures seemed illegal.

France’s agriculture minister, Marc Fesneau, was also critical of the measures.

“For solidarity there needs to be unity… We must keep hold of the two elements, otherwise the European project is at risk. The single market is a fundamental element,” he said.

Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu said on Monday his country would look to extend a trade ban on Ukrainian grain for 30 days if import requests rise.

Ciolacu said Romania had not seen requests to import grain from Ukraine since Friday and did not want a repeat of the situation earlier this year that impacted Romanian farmers.

“The Ukrainian prime minister promised to send the export licensing proposal today, which we will discuss,” Ciolacu said.

“If there will be export requests to Romania I will ask the agriculture and economy ministers to draft an order extending the ban for a period of 30 days until things are clarified.”

The Bulgarian parliament voted to lift its ban on Ukrainian grains last week.

— Reporting for Reuters by Julia Payne in Brussels and Yuliia Dysa in Kyiv; additional reporting by Luiza Illie in Bucharest, Tom Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk in Kyiv, Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris, and Marek Strzelecki; writing by Nigel Hunt.

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