Poland suspends wheat imports from Ukraine. The news comes just days after the resignation of Agriculture Minister Henryk Kowalczyk following farmers' protests against the rising price of the resource. At this point, with the new decision by the government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the Polish-Ukrainian grain agreement will allow Ukrainian grain to transit through Poland to third countries only until July. The decision and its consequences were explained by Janusz Kowalski, Polish Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

The decision was taken as a result of the fact that low-priced Ukrainian wheat has flooded the EU market since the beginning of the conflict with Russia: so much so that Polish farmers have protested what they see as a threat to their domestic market.

The dispute was reportedly resolved during President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to Poland on April 5, during which he met with senior Polish officials. Zelensky supported the need to impose tariffs on all agricultural products from Ukraine, calling it an important battle between the European Commission and Poland to protect Polish agriculture.

In a letter sent to the European Commission at the end of march, Poland and four other Central European countries called for various measures to limit market "distortions" caused by the influx of Ukrainian imports: the letter stated that if these measures were unsuccessful, tariffs and tariff-rate quotas should be reintroduced.

Last week, as we mentioned, the European Commission decided to extend duty-free imports of Ukrainian wheat until June 2024, prompting the resignation of Polish Agriculture Minister Kowalczyk. "Since it is very clear that the fundamental postulate of farmers will not be fulfilled by the European Commission, I have made a decision and resigned as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development," Kowalczyk said in his resignation statement.