WARSAW: The Polish government has decided to ban imports of grain and other food from Ukraine to protect the Polish agricultural sector, the leader of the ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS), Jaroslaw Kaczyński, said on Saturday.
Large quantities of Ukrainian grains, which are cheaper than those produced in the European Union, have ended up staying in Central European states amid logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers.
This has created a political problem for the PiS in an election year.
“Today, the government has decided on a regulation that prohibits the entry, importation of grain into Poland, but also dozens of other types of food (from Ukraine),” Kaczyński said during the PiS party convention.
The list of these goods will be included in the government regulation, and there are goods “from grain to honey products, very, very many things,” he added.
“We are and remain unchanged friends and allies of Ukraine. We will support her and we support her. ... But it is the duty of every state, every authority, good authority in any case, to protect the interests of its citizens,” Kaczyński said.
Kaczyński said Poland was ready to start talks with Ukraine to settle the grain issue and the Ukrainian side had already been notified of the decisions of the Polish government.
Polish government bans grain and food imports from Ukraine
https://arab.news/9yc23
Polish government bans grain and food imports from Ukraine
- This has created a political problem for the PiS in an election year
- The list of these goods will be included in the government regulation
Kremlin welcomes US sanctions waiver says US and Russia share interest in stable energy markets
DUBAI: Russia sees a U.S. sanctions waiver on its oil as an attempt by Washington to stabilise global energy markets, and the two countries have a shared interest in this, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"We see actions by the United States aimed at trying to stabilise energy markets. In this respect, our interests coincide," he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a temporary authorisation allowing countries around the world to purchase Russian oil currently stranded at sea on Thursday extending a measure that had previously been granted only to Indian refiners.
Bessent stressed in a post on X that the authorisation would not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government.
“This narrowly tailored, short-term measure applies only to oil already in transit and will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government, which derives the majority of its energy revenue from taxes assessed at the point of extraction,” Bessent said on a post on X.
However, the measure received mix reviews in European capitals, with many fearing it could help replenish Russia's assualt on Ukraine.
"I am concerned that we are further filling Putin's war chest," German Economy Minister Katherina Reiche said in Berlin on Friday.
Reiche said that she saw both sides to the United States' decision to issue a 30-day waiver for the purchase of Russian oil products, understanding the increasing ecnomic and political turnout from the oil crisis, particurlarly in South Korea and Japan.
"It seems to me that domestic political pressure in the United States is very, very high," Reiche said.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz was more direct, saying on Friday that it was wrong to ease sanctions against Russia for whatever reason. The sentiment was echoed by Norway’s Prime Minister, who also said sanctions should not be eased.
Oil prices held gains above $100 Friday and most equity markets dropped after Iran's leader called for the blocking of the crucial Strait of Hormuz and the opening up of new fronts in the war against the United States and Israel.
With the conflict heading towards its third week and showing no signs of ending, investors are growing increasingly worried about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
