Ukraine Suspends WTO Complaints Against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia

The consideration of Ukraine's complaints against Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia regarding the grain import ban has been put on hold at the World Trade Organization (WTO). Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Taras Kachka, made this announcement, as reported by The First News. He stated that this decision was made to address trade issues with EU countries as a whole.

"It's a matter of the functioning of trade between Ukraine and the EU in general. We see that this problem will be resolved in the coming weeks and months. There will be a lot of news about changes in licensing and so on. It will be a very active process. So, for now, our disputes at the WTO are on pause while we seek a practical solution," he explained during his visit to Brussels on Thursday.

Taras Kachka emphasized that Ukraine is currently in consultations, not a real dispute. According to him, Ukraine has not yet established a working body to resolve the conflicts and is still in the consultation phase, which allows for a 60-day period. He also pointed out that it is essential for Ukraine to find a constructive solution within the framework of the EU.

"Despite the fact that our complaints are against individual EU member states, including Poland, it's a systemic issue in our relations with the EU. Our goal is to emphasize that the EU and Ukraine aim for a similar approach to trade agreements. Therefore, we are looking for ways to address this issue comprehensively to demonstrate unity between Ukraine, Poland, and the EU," stated Taras Kachka.

Currently, Ukraine has resolved customs formalities for goods transiting through five neighboring countries, and none of these countries is blocking this transit. The only sensitive issue remaining is access to the markets of neighboring countries for Ukrainian goods.

"It's a minor issue because we don't export a lot of grain products there. However, it is related to the functioning of trade between Ukraine and the EU," explained the Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine.

As a reminder, Poland, along with Hungary and Slovakia, unilaterally extended the ban on the import of Ukrainian wheat, corn, rapeseed, and sunflower seeds due to concerns about the potential harm to their agricultural sectors from excessive imports from their eastern neighbor.

This move has angered Ukraine, which subsequently filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) against these three countries, as they receive substantial financial compensation from the EU in this regard. On September 15, the European Commission announced that the EU embargo on Ukrainian grain imports to five member countries - Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and Slovakia - would not be extended because "market distortions in the five front-line countries have disappeared."