The decision of a number of EU countries to suspend the import of Ukrainian agricultural products will hardly have any effect on global prices and is unlikely to be fully implemented, said Arkady Zlochevskyi, the president of the Russian Grain Union, reports RIA-Novosti on April 18.
"Ukraine can export up to 2.5-3 mln tonnes of grain per month by land. But such volumes of transit will interfere with local transportation, so about 2 mln tonnes are exported. Usually 1.5-1.7 mln tonnes per month – in a year it is 18-20.4 mln tonnes," the expert calculated.
He added, that the main share in this volume is accounted for by corn, while the USA alone, for example, produces about 380 mln tonnes of grain per year.
"And that's not including Brazil, Argentina and other countries. Therefore, the decision of Poland and Hungary to suspend the import of grain from Ukraine has no effect on world prices - not the largest supply volumes. This is a purely psychological effect, since farmers in these countries are dissatisfied with the situation when incoming Ukrainian grain puts pressure on domestic prices," the head of the RGU believes.
At the same time, A. Zlochevsky noted, such bans can only be introduced by the European Union, since according to the EU's internal rules on trade, the countries that are part of it do not have the right to independently limit the sales markets in their territory.
"Now, by deciding to suspend the supply of Ukrainian grain, these countries are essentially actively resisting the EU's foreign trade rules. Of course, this will not lead to its collapse, but it will create the basis for a certain aggravation of internal contradictions," the president of the RGU suggests.
