Romania will monitor more closely the transfer of grain coming from Ukraine and passing through the country, by sealing off the trucks and running tests for compliance with EU standards on entry rather than at the destination, the Ministry of Agriculture announced after consultations held by Minister Petre Daea with his counterpart in Kyiv, Mikola Solski.

Romania also asked Ukrainian officials to seek solutions for restricting grain and oilseeds exports to Romania, which as of now remain unrestricted from the Romanian side. Romanian farmers estimate losses of €200mn as a result.

The Romanian ministry also informed Solski about the request made by the agriculture ministers of five member states (Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia) to the European Commission for the amendment of Regulation 870/2022, so as to ensure a transit corridor to third countries, without affecting the farmers in the border states.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has announced her intention to provide an additional €100mn aid to Central and Eastern European states affected by Ukrainian grain exports, including Romania, officials in Brussels quoted by Ziarul Financiar said.

The losses estimated by the farmers in the five countries reached €417mn, while the European Commission offered so far €56.3mn of compensations out of which €10mn to Romania –  an amount that Daea has promised to double with money from the state budget.

The ministries of Romania and Ukraine agreed to have a tete-a-tete meeting on April 21 in Bucharest, in order to quickly put into practice the best solutions for both parties.

Earlier this week, Poland and Ukraine struck a deal to unblock Ukrainian grain exports passing through Polish territory en route to third countries. Under the agreement, grain will transit Poland under surveillance only to Polish ports or to other countries, without an option to change once the destination has been declared. 

Meanwhile, on April 19 Bulgaria became the latest EU member state to ban grain imports from Ukraine. Bulgaria’s caretaker government said it is banning the imports of around 20 products from Ukraine, including cereals, honey and milk products, following protests by grain producers.