The Ukrainian-Polish borders are unblocked, and the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through Poland continues. However, due to political factors, conflicts on European borders may recur. The UAC Deputy Chairman Denys Marchuk, spoke about the prospects for Ukraine's trade relations with Poland and the EU in 2024-2025.

“The preliminary agreements with Poland on the transit of agricultural products are working, the borders have been unblocked, and the agreements are actually in place. But the conversation continues at the highest level. Despite the dismissal of the Minister of Agriculture in Ukraine, an acting minister has been appointed and next week the Parliament will appoint a new head of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy. The next meeting between the Polish and Ukrainian sides to discuss Ukrainian agricultural exports is scheduled for the third decade of May in Warsaw. The most difficult aspect of the Ukrainian-Polish negotiations is politics, as opposition political forces always raise the issue of Ukrainian agricultural products, which are allegedly too abundant in Poland. From time to time, there are demands to prohibit transit, but this is a key point for Ukraine because certain types of products cannot be transported by sea. However, such products account for no more than 5% of total exports. The rest of the agricultural products move across the Black Sea, partly through the Danube. Therefore, there is no threat to Polish products,” explained the UAC Deputy Chairman.

The future of Ukrainian exports to the EU will be determined by the June parliamentary elections.

“The European Parliament elections are on the agenda, and one way or another, the slogans raised by the opposition forces to win the electorate of Polish rural areas will also apply to Ukraine. We do not exclude that Poland may continue to call for a prohibition and transit of Ukrainian agricultural products. The European Parliament elections are a significant factor of influence. It is clear that committees and a new parliament will be formed in October. Our further trade relations with the EU in 2025 will depend on which political forces will be represented in the European Parliament, what will be the ideological and political direction towards Ukraine. And now we can predict that Ukraine may not receive duty-free exports in 2025. In this case, we will need to increase quotas for a number of products, and we should start thinking about this today,” added Denys Marchuk.