The Polish government has banned the imports of Ukrainian agricultural products until at least June 30, 2023. The imports of cereals, milk, eggs, meat, and honey, as well as fresh and processed fruits and vegetables, fruits, and frozen berries, are banned.
“The ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine, and especially their transit to third parties, is a rather unexpected and clearly political story that reminds us of Rosselkhoznadzor. I am sure that this will be somehow mitigated politically, at least for less mass fruit and vegetable crops. For Ukrainian producers, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia are the main sales channels for fruit, vegetables, and berries,” Taras Bashtannyk, President of the Ukrainian Horticultural Association, said in a comment to EastFruit.
According to the president, this has a significant impact on the exports of frozen products, namely the key export position of Ukraine’s berries – frozen raspberries: “It’s good that this did not happen in autumn or winter when the stocks of berries in storage were large and exports were much more active. But even now there is trade. This is the most unexpected and unpleasant turn for Ukrainian farmers and exporters.
As of now, it is not possible to sell or transit. This means that exports will freeze.”
UHA President Taras Bashtannyk hopes that these restrictions will be lifted in the coming days. At least, transit will be allowed, and restrictions on frozen berry imports will be lifted.
“The situation with frozen raspberries was the most critical for Ukrainian exporters last fall, due to Russian aggression due to constant power outages. And now they face the ban on exports. My forecasts for the prices of frozen raspberries for producers are cautiously pessimistic. In the EU, prices for raspberries are again significantly reduced – by 10-15%, because the already active purchasing season has passed and the market is waiting for the new season. It must be remembered that there are quite a lot of stocks of raspberries left in Serbia, about 30 000 tonnes, so there are fears that the price will fall again this year. It depends on stocks in Serbia and on our harvest. Much will depend on what the Serbs will do with last year’s stocks which were quite expensive at cost (at $4),” the specialist notes.
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