We were an exporter of sugar to various European countries, and now Ukrainian sugar has gone there and there is no possibility of exporting our sugar, said Czesław Siekierski, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, on Program 1 of Polish Radio on Tuesday. As he explained, “there are problems with sugar, we are conducting some talks in this regard.”
The head of the Ministry of Agriculture referred to the suspension of the farmers’ protest in Medyka on Tuesday. In his opinion, it is an element of positive dialogue and conversation. – Farmers received proposals to solve the problems they asked for, so I think it is a success, but everything takes time, because the implementation of these arrangements is related to, among others, with the adoption of the budget, but also with the decisions of the EC, also with the adoption of new statutory solutions, which allow for the possibility of not increasing the tax for farmers, but in such a way that the communes do not lose out on this, he said.
Sugar production is increasing in Poland and Ukraine
Siekierski pointed out that “new problems are emerging, problems with sugar are emerging. – We have a very serious problem with sugar, which will affect the market. We are conducting some talks in this regard. Production is increasing. We are becoming a large sugar producer. It was good the previous year in terms of sugar beet yields – he explained. As he added, sugar production is also growing, beet cultivation is increasing Ukraine.
– We were an exporter of sugar to various European countries, and now Ukrainian sugar has gone there and there is no possibility of exporting our sugar – explained the head of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
Suspension of the protest in Medyka
On Saturday afternoon, the Minister of Agriculture, Czesław Siekierski, and the Podkarpackie Voivode, Teresa Kubas-Hul, signed an agreement with farmers associated in the “Podkarpackie cheated village”. Pursuant to it, the farmers’ protest at the Medyka crossing was suspended. The agreement states that the Minister of Agriculture accepts and implements all three farmers’ demands: launching a corn subsidy of PLN 1 billion, increasing lending for liquidity loans by PLN 2.5 billion and maintaining the agricultural tax level at the 2023 level.
Main photo source: Shutterstock