The meeting was held in an online format. Minister Robert Telus was accompanied by Secretary of State Ryszard Bartosik. The meeting was also attended by the representatives of the Veterinary Inspectorate, the Main Inspectorate of Plant Health and Seed Inspection, the Main Inspectorate of Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection, the National Revenue Administration and the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate.

Solidarity lanes

Minister Robert Telus stressed that Poland wanted the so-called solidarity lanes to operate effectively. This would allow Ukrainian products to be efficiently transported with no detriment to the Polish agricultural sector. To this end, he proposed measures to facilitate the transit transport of Ukrainian cereals to seaports in different EU Member States.

Minister Mykola Solskiy expressed his interest in the Polish proposal. He announced that Ukraine would submit a draft of detailed solutions in the nearest future. He explained that Russian missile attacks on the port infrastructure in Ukraine had put its exporters in a very difficult situation. At present, they need to arrange for cereal exports by different routes.

Polish poultry and eggs

The Ministers also addressed the issue of access of Polish poultry products and eggs to the Ukrainian market. At present, the veterinary services of both countries are intensively working to resolve this issue.

Polish-Ukrainian trade in agri-food products

Ukraine is Poland’s important partner in trade in agri-food products. In 2022, Poland’s agricultural exports to the Ukrainian market grew by 16% (from EUR z 811.5 million to EUR 945.3 million). The exports included mainly cheeses and curds, animal feed products and coffee. In the period from January to May 2023, the agricultural exports to the Ukrainian market grew by more than 35% compared with the analogous period of 2022.