site.btaRomanian Agriculture Minister: Romania Has Not Imported Ukrainian Grain

Romania has not imported wheat from Ukraine, but seven applications for grain imports from Ukraine have been submitted to Romania's Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, but none have been approved so far, Romanian Agriculture Minister Florin Barbu said in an interview with Antena 3 TV.

Responding to a question about what he thought of a statement made by Deputy Director of the National Institute of Agrarian Economics in Ukraine, who announced that Romania was ranked first in the list of importers of agricultural products from Ukraine, Barbu explained, "Romania imported sugar from Ukraine because we produce only 23% (of the required quantities) or about 100,000 tonnes when consumption is 400,000 tonnes. We have not imported grain because imports are banned by a European Union decision. Later on, Romania and Ukraine set up a licensing mechanism for farmers and processors who want to import agricultural products, here we are talking about wheat, maize, rape, sunflower."

He stressed that the only ones who can import grain from Ukraine are Romanian farmers and processors, not middlemen or other grain traders.