Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine Mykola Solskyy has met with his Moldovan counterpart Vladimir Bolea in Chisinau.
Solskyy travelled to Moldova after Chisinau announced its intention to temporarily block grain and oilseed imports from Ukraine, as some EU countries had done earlier. Bolea assured Solskyy that the transit of Ukrainian agricultural products through Moldova would continue in full.
"Mykola Solskyy expressed his disagreement with such a decision of Moldova. He also stressed that the grounds for such a decision are unclear, as Ukraine does not import these crops to the Republic of Moldova," the Agrarian Policy and Food Ministry said.
The negotiations will continue.
Moldova intends to join the European Union's decision to temporarily restrict grain imports from Ukraine. This means imposing a temporary restriction on imports of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower originating in Ukraine. However, it is planned to allow grain transit.
According to Vladimir Bolea, there is a significant amount of grain in Moldovan storage facilities, and this raises concerns among farmers that they will not have enough space for the new harvest. At the same time, he said, the trend of grain exports from Moldova is downward, logistics costs have increased, and prices on international exchanges have collapsed.