Grain traders have imported one million tons of Ukrainian wheat to Romania this season. This makes Romania the second largest export market for Ukrainian wheat after Spain (3.3 million tons), reports the Romanian business portal Economica.net, citing data from the Ukrainian customs authorities. In contrast, MEP Enikő Győri (Fidesz) emphasized that “we cannot be in solidarity with Ukraine to the detriment of European farmers.”
In the market year that began on July 1 of last year, the next places on the list of wheat export destinations were Egypt, Pakistan, and Turkey. Romania no longer appears in the data on Ukrainian wheat exports in February – the most important destinations are Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia, and Turkey.
Last autumn, Romania made the import of agricultural products from Ukraine subject to approval, and since then they may only be imported by local farmers and processors. The temporary exemption from customs duties for Ukrainian agricultural products destined for other markets enabled traders to sell significant quantities in Romania. This led to serious market disruptions, depressed purchase prices for grain and oilseeds, and made transportation more expensive, causing 45% of Romanian farmers to become insolvent, according to the Romanian Ministry of Agriculture.
In January, Romanian farmers protested for three weeks with their machinery against the consequences of Ukrainian grain exports, among other ways, by blocking traffic.
Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu has repeatedly stated that Romania only allows transit and that “not a single grain of Ukrainian wheat” has remained in the country since October. Nicu Vasile, the chairman of Romania’s largest farmers’ association AAC, contradicted this at the end of January, stating that significant quantities of Ukrainian grain and processed products have reached the Romanian market. The data now published supports his statement.Meanwhile, on Monday afternoon, the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade (INTA) discussed the extension of the suspension of import duties, quotas, and market protection measures for Ukrainian exports to the EU.