Jobbik: Poor quality Ukrainian grain floods Hungary

Opposition Jobbik has urged the government to protect Hungarian farmers from the impact of an influx of “poor quality Ukrainian grain”.

At a press conference, Jobbik MP János Bencze repeated his party’s call on the government to release the names of the companies importing large quantities of Ukrainian grain and to impose a tax on their extra profits which could be used to pay compensations to farmers. Bencze said the large volumes of grain coming out of Ukraine was causing serious problems in neighbouring countries, including Hungary. He said the grain, which was often treated with chemicals banned in the European Union, had depressed grain prices in Hungary, “putting local farmers in a terribly hopeless situation”, MTI wrote.

He noted that Poland’s minister of agriculture had recently resigned because the compensation the country received from the EU had not been enough to protect local farmers from the impact of Ukrainian grain imports. Bencze said Hungary’s agriculture minister should also step down if he could not bring a stop to the influx of poor-quality Ukrainian grain.