Caroline Gunderode
Incorect Politic
Ianuarie 31, 2023

Ukraine floods Europe with infested wheat!

Mechanical translation

At the end of 2022, Național wrote that “the Romanian market was flooded with cheap and very poor quality goods from Ukraine”. The information was provided even by farmers who were not satisfied to see their grain rotting in silos on the grounds that Ukrainian wheat has priority for transport/export. “The Ukrainians brought to our country genetically modified rapeseed, grains whose seeds were treated with furadan and wheat infested with downy mildew,” Laurentiu Baciu, president of the League of Associations of Agricultural Producers in Romania (LAPAR), declared for National.

“The dumping prices of this garbage caused the purchase prices of Romanian cereals to collapse, so that Romanian farmers are on the verge of bankruptcy,” points out Claudia Marcu in Național.

The winter holidays have not gone well and the information is confirmed – the situation is serious at the level of the European Union and not only in Romania we have the “assassination” of the agricultural industry.

The big companies in the field are revolting against the EU’s policies towards Ukraine and in this context condemn the attitude of “open doors” in relation to the import of grain from the country of the Jewish actor Zelensky. So far, only five countries have asked the European Commission to intervene as Ukrainian wheat floods the market. But that would not be the worst thing – Kiev is shoving low-quality, infested wheat down our throats.

Of course, the grains from Ukraine have priority both in delivery/transportation and in sale, and that’s not just because they are cheaper (price determined primarily by the poor quality of the product)!

Influx of Ukrainian grain disrupts EU business

Last spring, the blockade imposed by the Russian Federation on Ukrainian grain shipments caused global wheat prices to rise by 60% in just three months. Immediately, there were fears that famine was coming, if not globally, at least in Africa and parts of Asia. Now that the routes have been reopened, other new problems are emerging – grain producers in Central Europe are threatened by the influx of grain from Ukraine.

The return of the grain shipments caused the volume of shipments to Hungary and other EU member states to increase sharply, causing serious market disruption.

The fundamental problem, which is also present in Romania, but is only spoken about in whispers, so as not to upset the “hero of humanity”, is the following: the big grain traders are currently transporting grain from Ukraine instead of grain produced by EU. Both non-EU and EU markets are blocked.

“The significant volume of imports into the EU from Ukraine, by sea and land, is pushing down producer prices despite high input costs, and their continued presence is causing serious problems for grain and oilseed producing countries in Europe. In order to prevent these negative developments, it is necessary to review the current market conditions and take appropriate measures at the EU level”, reacted the Hungarian Minister of Agriculture.

What did Laurentiu Baciu say in November? “How much harm the leadership of the country did to us with imports from Ukraine! They brought garbage to Romania at low prices and ruined our market. Enormous quantities of genetically modified rapeseed from Ukraine entered Romania, products entered whose seeds were treated with furadan, which is banned in Romania and in Europe. And they came in at very low prices.”

“I, when I wanted to sell the rapeseed grown by me, was told that I have to wait 72 hours for the test result to come, to see if it is genetically modified or not. But what did they do at the border, if the genetically modified rape entered like that?! With the lack of controls in our country, it is clear that the goods of poor quality remained in Romania, that they were not received at the port with it, that even those who buy from outside are not so stupid”, revealed the head of LAPAR.

The situation is so worrying that ministers from Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria have organized an emergency meeting to discuss the newly emerging situation – the drop in demand for grains from domestic producers.

Budapest insists that there is a need to preserve the balance of the EU’s internal market, primarily protecting the interests of European farmers. For this reason, the Ministers of Agriculture of the mentioned countries agreed to ask the European Commission to take measures, at the January meeting in Brussels, to stabilize the market.

Grains from Ukraine, of poor quality

And there is another problem, perhaps even more important. There are concerns about the quality of Ukrainian grain being shipped to Europe. There is talk in Poland that the “brothers” from Kyiv are exporting grain sprayed with illegal pesticides (chemicals dangerous to health), while Polish wheat, recognized as high quality, lies “arrested” in silos.

Almost the same situation we encounter in Romania, in Constanța, where port activity is blocked by/with the transportation of Ukrainian wheat.

“The good and healthy Polish grain is sent to the West, and we eat wheat with unauthorized chemical agents from Ukraine,” raged Bronis Groskrow Kormkroglewski, President of the Polish Chamber of Agriculture. Immediately, the authorities in Warsaw were quick to jump to Kiev’s defense – “The quality of grain in Ukraine meets all quality standards, their wheat is as good as Polish”. However, the Minister of Agriculture, Kowalczyk, admits that “there are differences in the technology of agricultural production, because Poland works in accordance with EU requirements, while in Ukraine there are no such rules.”

Polish farmers from the Agrounia Association launched a massive protest against grain imports from Ukraine. According to them, cheap and low-quality wheat imported from neighboring countries is flooding Europe and driving out of the market the grain harvested by EU companies that pay taxes and duties, provide jobs and feed millions of people. As a result, farmers demand the imposition of taxes on Ukrainian grain.

Otherwise, Europeans are justified in fearing that they are receiving infested wheat for consumption. In the past, the United Nations has addressed the issue of illegal and counterfeit pesticides used in Ukraine. “A major food security issue,” was the description of the case at the time.