The Minister of Agriculture of Poland resigned because of Ukrainian grain

Minister of Agriculture of Poland Henryk Kowalczyk resigned. The reason was numerous protests by Polish farmers who were dissatisfied with the extension of the grain deal with Ukraine. The day before, the European Commission published a project to extend the duty-free import of grain from Ukraine for another hour. Polish farmers, like Kovalchyk himself, believe that this measure discriminates against Polish grain producers.

In May 2022, the European Union temporarily canceled import duties and quotas on the import of grain from Ukraine as a measure to support the economy of the warring country. In addition to grain, duties and quotas were also canceled on other Ukrainian agricultural products, including oilseeds, sugar, poultry and eggs.

This caused dissatisfaction among farmers of countries bordering Ukraine, including Poland. Due to the lack of duties, the influx of cheap Ukrainian production led to a decrease in the competitiveness of their own production. They cannot reduce the prices of their products, and their production becomes unprofitable.

Brussels offered a total of 56.3 million euros as compensation to the affected farmers. From this amount, Poland will receive almost 30 million euros, Bulgaria – 16.7 million, and Romania – 10 million. The decision was approved by the EU countries on March 30. But the authorities of the affected countries consider these payments too small, and the measures insufficient.

Polish farmers have expressed dissatisfaction with the minister since December last year. At the agricultural fair in Kielce on March 18, Kovalchyk was booed by the participants, and he had to leave the fair to avoid a fight. Eggs were thrown at him at the European Farmers’ Forum in Yasyonka.

On March 31, the governments of Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria appealed to the European Commission with a request to return quotas and duties on Ukrainian agricultural products. They emphasized that such a measure is necessary to protect the interests of their own agriculture. However, the European Commission published a project to extend the duty-free and quota-free import of grain from Ukraine for another hour, from June 2023 to June 5, 2024. After that, Kovalchyk announced his resignation.

Robert Telus, head of the Agricultural Committee in the Polish Parliament, will succeed Kovalchyk as Minister of Agriculture and Development of Rural Regions. Kovalchyk will remain in the government as a “minister without portfolio”.