[Source: Reuters]

Poland and Hungary have decided to ban imports of grain and other food from neighbouring Ukraine to protect the local agricultural sector, the two governments said, after a flood of supply depressed prices across the region.

Ukraine expressed regret about the Polish decision, saying that “resolving various issues by unilateral drastic actions will not accelerate a positive resolution of the situation”.

After Russia’s invasion blocked some Black Sea ports, large quantities of Ukrainian grain, which is cheaper than that produced in the European Union, ended up staying in Central European states due to logistical bottlenecks, hitting prices and sales for local farmers.

In a letter to the European Commission last month, the prime ministers of five eastern European countries said the scale of the increase in products like grains, oilseeds, eggs, poultry and sugar had been “unprecedented”, and said tariffs on Ukrainian agricultural imports should potentially be considered.

The impact of the oversupply has created a political problem for Poland’s ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) in an election year, with the economy mired in stagflation.