Poland is promoting inspections at the border with Ukraine, with tighter control on transit cargo heading to the Eurozone. Denys Marchuk, the UAC Deputy Chairman, explained the reasons for such actions of Poland.

"We see another attempt by Poland to reduce the volume of exports from Ukraine. These attempts were already made in 2023, when the first import prohibition by European countries began. Later, the Polish side announced tighter control of cargo crossing the borders by road and rail, which led to downtime, late fulfillment of contracts, and, accordingly, financial losses for Ukrainian producers. At the same time, they agreed to control transit cargo in the country of delivery, not in Poland.  However, such artificial barriers to Ukrainian products are primarily intended to politically satisfy the ambitions of Polish farmers today. For its part, Ukraine needs to demand compliance with EU legislation. If we have an association with the EU and a decision on visa-free travel for Ukrainian products, there can be no obstacles to their movement," said the UAC Deputy Chairman.

Today, Polish farmers are in more favorable economic conditions compared to Ukrainian producers, but they need to look for the best options that will satisfy both sides.

"Polish farmers receive subventions and subsidies from the state and are members of the EU. Until the last decade, they were actively capturing the European market. Ukrainian producers, on the other hand, are working in a war zone, some of the territories are mined, and many farms have suffered during the occupation.  At the same time, the Ukrainian agricultural business survives without subsidies, thanks to the quality of its products and willingness to work.  In fact, the European Commission's liberalization policy towards Ukrainian exports has yielded results: in 2023, out of the total export revenue of USD22 billion, about 54% of this amount was earned through cooperation with the euro area, through trade with the EU. Of course, we need to build on this, look for the best options to avoid harming the interests of European producers, but at the same time not to lose our own prospects. Because we have politically determined that we are integrating into Europe, Ukraine will become part of Europe, and therefore will also have the right to claim the food markets that European farmers use today," added Denys Marchuk.