On the initiative of the Minister of Agriculture Robert Telus, a video meeting of the Ministers of Agriculture of Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary was held on Friday on preventive measures regarding the import of soft fruit from Ukraine.
During the talks, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Robert Telus, estimated that in 2022 and in the first months of 2023, the import of Ukrainian strawberries and frozen raspberries to Poland increased significantly. He added that this means “huge difficulties for Polish producers and very serious market disruptions.” He noted that a similar problem does not exist in the other countries of the coalition of frontline states, most affected by market disruptions resulting from increased imports of agricultural products from Ukraine. “That is why Poland decided to apply to the EU Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis to include frozen raspberries and strawberries in the so-called preventive measures, i.e. a ban on imports from Ukraine” – we read in the communiqué on the government website. A letter on this matter, signed by the Minister of Development and Technology, is to be submitted to the European Commission soon.
On July 19, a meeting of the ministers of agriculture of Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova will take place in Warsaw. Its subject will be the situation on agricultural markets resulting from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and possible actions to ensure fair conditions of competition for farmers from EU Member States and candidate countries. The Minister of Agricultural Policy and Food of Ukraine was also invited to talks in Warsaw.
Ministry of Agriculture on price fixing on the Polish raspberry market
Meanwhile, on Monday, July 10, the Ministry of Agriculture announced a few days ago that, in its opinion, foreign entities could have concluded a price collusion on the raspberry market in Poland. Such a move was supposed to be a response to the emergence of a state-owned company on the market.
– We suspect that there was a price collusion to put pressure on the state-owned company. We will not succumb to it – said Deputy Minister of Agriculture Rafał Romanowski on Monday. The ministry suspects that foreign entities want to reduce the price on the Polish raspberry market, which would hurt farmers and growers. – On the night from Friday to Saturday, entities with a majority of foreign capital lowered the price of raspberries. We have a reasonable suspicion that this is a manifestation of unfair competition and an attempt to exert price pressure on a state-owned company that purchases raspberries, Romanowski informed. Prices were to drop from hour to hour by as much as PLN 1 per kilogram. A decrease in prices was noticed especially in Lubelskie Voivodship.
In Poland, 100,000 tons of raspberries are produced annually, of which 80 percent comes from the Lubelskie Voivodeship. Since last week, a raspberry purchase run by the state has been operating there. More in the article below:
Source: Gazeta
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