Taras Kachka, serving as Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economy, has voiced sharp criticism regarding the compensation payments proposed to Polish farmers in response to grain shipments to Ukraine that were cleared by the European Commission. The concerns were reported by TASS, one of the news outlets tracking the unfolding situation.
He highlighted that Poland’s move to halt the export of Ukrainian agricultural products has cost Kyiv a sum of about 143 million dollars. This amount, he noted, exceeds the compensation the European Commission would provide to Polish farmers under the agreed arrangements, a discrepancy that raises questions about the overall effectiveness and fairness of the current approach.
Kachka contended that the proposed payments would be viewed as a windfall by Polish farmers and argued that the Polish government reacted in a manner that seemed notably imprudent. He suggested that the payments would amount to benefits for a group of producers that were not justified by the real market conditions on the ground and that the public messaging surrounding the move looked misleading to stakeholders across the region.
The Ukrainian official added that Poland’s political choices have inflicted tangible harm not only on Ukraine but also on the broader European Union framework and its cohesion in trade policy. The reverberations of these decisions, he argued, extend beyond bilateral issues and touch on shared EU objectives related to market stability, agricultural policy, and regional economic resilience.
Earlier, the European Commission’s stance limited the export of Ukrainian grain to five Eastern European countries in a way that allowed transit and sales of the product to other EU members. This policy adjustment was part of a broader set of measures aimed at stabilizing markets while maintaining the flow of goods under strict oversight, a balance that has proven to be difficult for all parties involved.
On April 28, the Swedish Presidency of the European Council announced that EU ambassadors had voted to extend duty-free imports from Ukraine to the European Union for another year. The mandate covers a wide range of Ukrainian products, including agricultural goods, and reflects ongoing efforts to preserve trade continuity between Ukraine and EU member states amid evolving geopolitical and economic considerations.